The Memories Left in the Fog
by Hesychius
Summary: Though each world uses the same deck, the spread can always be different. Regardless, Inaba's mystery can't be left unsolved, and there's always more than a single path through the fog. Persona 4 retelling. FeMC, small number of OCs. Updates weekly.
1. -? - The Fog

**?/?**

**The Fog**

**.**

* * *

The path before me twisted and turned, but there was really only one way forward.

I couldn't see the bridge for the mists, but following the rails was easy. I kept walking, forwards and upwards on this metal scaffold, into the yellow swirl of fog. It was my only option, of course.

The sky rippled a beautiful red and black, but it wasn't reachable. It was the only thing the fog couldn't touch- and naturally, if it couldn't reach it, then I certainly couldn't. The fog was ubiquitous. It was my reality to wander the infinite fogbank.

The world was sky and fog and shadows; eternal and immutable. Against infinity, a moment is useless. That was why I didn't keep memories. This was a world where nothing worth preserving happened; there was no growth, no change. Stagnation defined this worthless realm, an eternity of perpetual peace drowned in the fog.

"Help me... please. Help..."

A small, human, sound.

I stopped.

"Hello," I greeted.

It was a woman- small, huddled in fear and blind within the fog, but alive. Her whimpering quieted when I approached, and she looked up at me with small eyes. I didn't know if she could see me or not.

"Hello yourself," she muttered, shaking her head and looking away. She seemed a lot stronger all of a sudden- as if the presence of someone else gave her power. "So, are you here to finish the job 'I' started?"

I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything. She smiled bitterly and slowly got to her feet.

"Who are you?" I decided to ask. Identities were important. She wasn't supposed to be here, but I still didn't know who she was.

"Well... that's the question, isn't it?" she muttered more to herself than me, shaking her head. "I'm Mayumi Yamano. But that doesn't matter, I guess."

I didn't know what to say to that either.

"...It's just a name. Who cares about a name?" she muttered, walking over to the guard rail. "Or a career? Or the media? The police? It's all bullshit."

the mists were thinning again. Sometimes the fog faded, but it always came back shortly.

What did the world look like when the fog wasn't around?

"It's just a facade. A facade the entire fucking world wears," she muttered, "So they can protect themselves. From each other. Because on the inside, we're all the same. And when that mask cracks..."

she laughed, but there wasn't any mirth in it. I could see the entire path now- twining and twining like a worm round a piece of fetid meat as it hugged the walls of the building. Far in the distance, I could see shapes and formless things, scurrying to stay in the fog's embrace.

"You should leave. The shadows are getting agitated," I said. Humans couldn't survive if they met a shadow. Without their facade, they would be defenseless. That's why it was dangerous for them when the fog lifted.

"It's too late. Far too late," Mayumi Yamano muttered. She turned.

Her eyes were empty; the last vestiges of strength had fled, taken along with the receding fog.

She leaned back against the metal railing.

"I'm tired of wearing a mask," she said, voice cracking.

And then I watched her fall

into the evaporating yellow fog as it vanished, briefly revealing the black just beyond. Darkness and masks: laughing masks, crying masks, angry masks, cruel masks, kind masks. Human faces that stared out of the inky shadows of the world.

I heard a cry of grief; a wailing dirge from the uncountable to a single extinguished life that pieced my chest with empathetic heat. I was being ripped apart, parts of me that I never knew existed pulled in opposite extremes-

Horror. I felt horror, and disgust and sadness and _why did this happen?_

Then I heard and felt no more.

* * *

**.**

**4/11 **

**Inaba**

**.**

* * *

Rain.

I felt rain.

Sounds. Loud screams- but alarms, not people. Police.

Talking. So much talking around me. I couldn't understand a word. I wanted to, but I couldn't.

I opened my eyes. I was staring upwards into a cloudy sky. Grey. White.

The clouds were grey and white.

I closed my eyes.

.

But I remembered that sky.


	2. 4-11 - Precinct

**4/11**

**Inaba Local Precinct**

**.**

* * *

Ryotaro Dojima didn't like kids.

That said, he knew the problem was his own damn fault. He wasn't a very sociable guy at the best of times, and he never really tried fixing that; even speaking with his own daughter tended to be an awkward, stilted affair at the best of times. In the past, it never mattered too much; so long as you kept your head down and did your job well, nobody really cared if you kept to yourself.

So it was a mystery to him why he'd been sent to pick the girl up from the hospital.

"Adachi, we don't have all day," he snapped while leaning against the car.

"Sorry, Dojima-san. She's just a little... unsteady, still," he chuckled while holding the girl's hand. She seemed more than a little lost, stumbling through her steps as she tried to follow Adachi's gentle direction as if she couldn't see her own feet.

The doctors said there hadn't been anything wrong with her physically, at least as far as they could tell -somehow, all three of their X-ray machines had broken down simultaneously, so they weren't able to get viable scans of her head- but a concussion seemed unlikely, they said. If she had any mental irregularities, they were probably trauma based.

"Careful, there. Don't hurt yourself now," Adachi said gently, helping her into the back seat. Dojima checked the mirror; though a little bedraggled, she at least seemed better than how she'd been last night.

She was probably a bit under eighteen. Fairly tall, with long pale hair and blue eyes- possibly a foreigner? From out of town at least. More bizarre was the anachronistic grey robe she'd been found in; a patternless grey kimono. As it seemed, she hadn't changed while they were at the hospital, and Dojima had to wonder again why she'd been wearing it to begin with.

Or, hell, how she got tangled up in a TV antenna in the first place.

"Took you long enough," Dojima muttered as Adachi climbed into the passenger's seat. He started up the engine as his partner just chuckled nervously. Adachi did that a lot.

"Sorry, Dojima-san."

Adachi did that a lot too.

"They were pretty insistent that she get some sleep, so I had to promise to let her rest down at the station. Even then, I think they were kinda leery about letting someone with amnesia go into an interrogation."

Dojima would have rolled his eyes if he weren't driving. Victims having unclear memories of their assault wasn't uncommon- having _no _memories, on the other hand, was just bullshit. He didn't doubt that she was stressed from the entire debacle, but it was in his nature to doubt people. She was probably hiding something.

"Are you comfortable back there?" Adachi asked their 'guest'. She didn't really react, and Adachi's dopey smile wavered a little. Dojima kept his eyes on the road.

"So, what should we call you? Do you remember your name yet?" the young detective asked. The girl in the back blinked a little, but still didn't respond.

"I guess not, then..." he trailed off.

"Shut up, Adachi."

"Sorry, Dojima-san."

The car was quiet for a while. The girl was staring out the window, but Dojima had to wonder if she actually saw anything. The glazed look in her eyes seemed more than just a mask.

Wait. He sighed as he remembered something and glanced over at his partner. "The glasses," he muttered.

"Hm? Sorry, Dojima-san?" Adachi said cluelessly.

"Don't be an idiot, Adachi. I told you to pick them up."

"Oh- right, I almost forgot. Hehe, sorry-" he said, pulling a plastic bag from his pocket. A pair of glasses sat inside, simple black under-rims with a fashionable gray band on the arm. Even if they hadn't been found at the scene, they matched well enough that their owner was obvious.

The girl stared at the bag for a second like it was an alien object. Then, slowly and deliberately, she took it from Adachi's hand and just held it, staring.

"They're yours, aren't they?" he asked, smiling. "Sorry to make you walk around without your glasses all that time. It's a good thing Dojima-san was here, eh?"

Dojima sighed again.

* * *

**.**

**4/11 - Midnight**

**.**

* * *

Inaba was a tiny town and aside from the occasional biker gang incident, it didn't have a whole lot of crime to its name. Petty theft, the odd drunken fight or martial dispute gone awry, an occasional drug dealer from one of the bigger cities passing through; when all was said and done, there wasn't a whole lot of action to be found out in the country.

Naturally, that meant that they didn't have much in the way of a police department. There were only a handful of detectives aside from him, and even then they could mostly be found milling around the precinct rather than doing anything of use. Sometimes Ryotaro wondered if he was the only one interested in doing any actual work.

"So you don't remember anything about how you got to Inaba?"

The girl hesitated, then shook her head again. She still hadn't said a word and barely responded to what they said, but at least she'd picked at a sweet bun Adachi had bought along the way.

"No ID, no contacts and no memory, eh?" officer Sasaki muttered from the other side of the room, sipping his coffee. "That's rough, Dojima, I get it. But my personal opinion is to give this a rest. Remember who's the victim here."

"Hm," Dojima said, closing his eyes briefly. He'd wanted to interrogate her in isolation, but the chief nixed that idea. Interrogating a traumatized victim just out of the hospital wasn't kosher, but if you moved it to a slightly more public space and called it a chat, it became more laudable. Never mind that they still had no idea what to do with her if they couldn't find her guardians.

"Look, Dojima-san," Sasaki said, looking at his watch. "It's getting late. Why don't you get going home, and I'll set her up in one of the holding rooms for the night. You both need rest."

Part of Ryotaro wanted to say no.

This entire affair felt strange. A girl appears out of nowhere on a television antenna, uninjured and without memory, somehow. Something about it just stunk, and his instincts wouldn't let him just drop it.

Sasaki chuckled. "I can tell what you're thinking, but I wouldn't worry. I don't think this near weird enough to displace the Yamano and Namatame scandal."

"They won't hear about it at all if you all keep your traps shut," Dojima groused. Small town media could be vicious, and Inaba was no exception; he'd had more than one scuffle with an overenthusiastic reporter in the past. Unfortunately, few of his colleagues kept such a hardline stance.

He shook his head. "But I guess you're right... thanks for covering me. Apologize to Adachi for me for making him cover the paperwork, would you?" he muttered, standing up. He nodded at the girl briefly before he left.

"Get some sleep. We'll talk again tomorrow."

"...Mayumi Yamano."

She wasn't looking at that them, even when they turned back to her. She was just staring at her hands, chewing a bit of a sweet bun.

"Mayumi... Yamano."

Dojima looked at Sasaki.

"Well that's... something," the officer chuckled awkwardly.


	3. -? - Yomotsu Hirasaka

**?/?**

**Yomotsu Hirasaka**

**.**

* * *

_ I've been here before._

That long red path, winding through the mist.

There wasn't any yellow here. This was a holy place.

_ Why am I here again?_

I walked down the path of red stone. Down- it was hard to tell, but I was moving downward, wasn't I? Deeper and deeper into the veil of the mists, beyond curtains man was not meant to pass.

But there wasn't anywhere else to go.

_ I'm scared, _I realized. _Why am I scared?_

The world was silent. I was alone except for my thoughts.

_** Stay away. There is nothing for you here.**_

But there was only one path to follow. There was no way but forward- and downward.

_ Why am I here? _I thought. There was a purpose to it, wasn't there?

_** This is a place of death. There is nothing for you here.**_

I continued, silently, down the slope.

This place was at peace, I realized. That was why it was so terrifying. This was a place that had decided entirely what it was to be for all eternity, and would resist all change to that end. Time would not flow here. The fog would not lift.

It was the most permanent sort of mask. A seal never to be broken.

_** Everyone sees only what they want to. And the fog only deepens...**_

The end of the corridor. A door stood before me- red and black.

I reached out my hand. Slowly.

_ If this seal stays intact, nothing will change. _I thought to myself. _But if I open it..._

_** There is nothing for you here. **_

There was no way to move forward except for this door.

_** There is nothing for you here.**_

I had to break the seal.

_** There is nothing for you here.**_

I reached out to the door, and felt a chill on my hand like a thousand curses. There was no way I'd be able to open it.

A stone that sealed the bottom of the slope. I could get my answers if I moved only a few feet further. If I could bring myself to move past thus thing, to stare into the hell I knew lay on the other side, then maybe...

_ There is nothing for me here._

I couldn't do it.

I put down my hand. I couldn't move past that door. I wouldn't.

Beyond that... was...

.

_**There is no need to rush.**_

_** Come to us, rest your mind;**_

_** Regardless of your choice, you are truly one with**_

_** an intriguing destiny.**_

.

It wasn't a sound- but I suddenly felt I wasn't alone any longer.

And even more disconcerting, I now had a choice.

I could follow the red ribbon back up the hill. I could return where I'd come from.

And yet, there was also a road of shining blue- a fork in the road, not more than a pace behind.

It wasn't like anything I'd known before- it was made of soft light, but it didn't look weak. It could support my weight. And unlike the red road, I didn't know where it would lead.

So with only slight hesitation, I decided to take a chance on the new path.

It was only after a few minutes walking that I realized a curious property of the road. No matter how long or far I travelled on it, it still kept parallel to the final door at the end; it wove in and around and above, but never once did it stop revolving around that certain barrier.

And at the end of that road was something impossible- a shrine.

Immaculate blue as the road, and dangling in the air like a paper lantern. It swayed to a nonexistent breeze, but for all its apparent fragility it felt like something greater than the sum of its parts. A name was carved into the front, but I couldn't make out the characters, even squinting; I simply couldn't see well enough.

As I observed it, a small flying thing lifted from the grounds. It circled around me once, and then the blue butterfly settled directly on top of the gate.

I made a decision and entered the strange temple's doors.

The world around me shimmered and swam- and once things again came into full view, all I could see was blue. Blue as far as far as the eye could see- blue walls, blue floors, and an altar of blue offerings. It was decorated as though a sanctum might be, with a variety of knickknacks and minor effects scattered throughout- the altar was almost lonely in comparison, despite the bundles of flowers placed along the table.

And sitting in front of me, sitting in a cushioned chair that certainly didn't belong in such a traditional place, was a bizarre goblin of a man.

"Welcome," he said, almost tasting the words as they passed his lips, "to the Velvet Room."

* * *

**.**

**The Falling Temple**

**.**

* * *

"I must apologize," the strange man said as the room shuddered around us, "for the state of this room. I'm afraid we were not quite prepared to receive as distinguished a guest as you."

A couple of symbols fell from the walls, a particularly fragile ornament smashing on contact. A couple flowers rolled off the altar.

The man winced. Distorted as his features may be, he seemed human enough.

"My name is Igor. I am _very_ pleased to make your acquaintance; it is rare indeed for us to greet one such as yourself."

Before, I had felt as if I were walking through a dream- but here I was certain. The way the room looked and felt, the sort of ethereal even breathing the air invoked- somehow, it all felt... insubstantial. And yet...

"Is this a dream?" I asked.

Igor chuckled a little. "Why, of course! The question merely remains as to whose dream it may be. Does the man dream of the butterfly? Or the butterfly of the man? Either way, the question remains of utmost importance."

The entire room shuddered once more, rending the structure like an earthquake. A few mirrors down the right fell to the ground and cracked, but Igor barely batted an eye.

"But as much as I wish we could speak for longer, I'm afraid our time is... limited. This shrine is suspended between salvation and perdition; mind and matter. While it is intended to be a sanctuary of... contemplation, I'm afraid this particular port in the Sea of the Soul is rather..."

a tremor knocked another decoration to the floor.

"...turbulent."

"Why?" I asked, honestly curious. The entire space felt like it was being taken apart, and quickly at that. Even if I didn't fully understand it, it was clear this chamber wasn't generally exposed to this sort of stress- and I had a creeping feeling that it had to do with me.

"In general, the Velvet Room serves a very specific purpose: to guide and, at times, to refine the soul of its guest. Therefore, both the room and its tenants form a sort of... connection, to such a guest. You might say that the Velvet Room is an extension of the people within it," he said, no longer paying much mind to the periodic disturbances. "And I'm afraid that in this particular connection, that presents a unique situation... and a unique problem."

"I don't understand. The problem exists within my soul?"

Igor smiled gently. "Once again, I must apologize. As I said, I'm afraid we were simply ill equipped to serve a guest such as yourself."

Despite the inexorable clock marching forward, we were both quiet for a moment. I couldn't think of anything else to ask and Igor didn't interrupt my thinking. Still, the timbers of the velvet room creaked as they were drawn downwards, occasionally snapping back like an elastic band. A particularly strong jostle knocked a light fixture over, which Igor idly snatched out of the air.

"To business, then. In the near future you will come across many paths, several barriers, and a single question to answer- but it is fortunate, then, that you will always have the key to your success, so long as you acquire that certain question. Or perhaps I should say the question is, itself, the key?"

He cackled, then put the fixture down, neatly, beside him. "While the Velvet Room exists for the purpose of helping its guests, I'm afraid, we of this temple can only receive you... twice. That is the extent of the aid we may offer."

"Why me?" I asked, before pausing. No, that wasn't quite what I meant to say.

"Or rather... who am I?"

Igor smiled. It would have looked disturbing if he didn't have such a calming presence.

"You are a being with an Ego and a contract to fulfil, and it is by your power that there might be a shift in the paradigm of the Sea of Souls... or, perhaps, not. Either choice would be valid, and equally so. That is the true nature your quest: to decide the shape your key shall take. Or rather, the form of the question and answer that shall be your key forward."

"...What question?"

Igor continued to smile. I wondered if he was wearing a mask.

"Today, I will also ask you a question, and you will be bound to our contract. Regardless of whichever path you choose, I'm afraid you are duty bound to provide an answer eventually. My only condition is as such: regardless of whatever you may determine to be an appropriate answer, you must accept the consequences of that choice. Whatever they might be."

His beady eyes stared into mine intently.

"... I accept."

"You accept that you are accountable for your own decisions? I'm afraid this cannot be rescinded. If you accept, then there can only be yourself at fault for your own actions in the future. You won't be able to shift responsibility to others, nor blame circumstance, for anything that might transpire as a result. Do you accept this still?"

A quake tossed the temple as if it were a ship, causing a cacophony of destruction as the remaining decorations shattered. Igor sat resolutely and grinned, despite a part of the wall having ripped apart entirely.

"Yes, I... I still accept. My choices are my own."

Beyond the velvet room was a void- and in that void were beings of the darkness, clawing at whatever fraction of light they might reach. Beasts made of grief, hatred and ignorance.

"Very well. Within the next year, you will provide an answer for the following question:" Igor said as the Velvet Room ripped apart around him- and me, as I furtively avoided the collapsing floorboards. I moved quickly, but with a loud crack, the entire building split in two; plunging me into the darkness with hungry beasts reaching up to grasp me with hungry claws-

.

** "What is it that humanity desires?"**


	4. 4-12 - Precinct

**4/12**

**Inaba Local Precinct**

.

* * *

I awoke to a voice.

"Breakfast is ready- oh hey, you're up already," said the blurry human shape stepping into the room. I frowned; I knew who that was, but I couldn't quite remember _how _I knew.

"Feeling any better today, Specs?" he asked, chuckling as if at a private joke.

Spectacles?

There were a pair of glasses on the table next to my bed. Curious, I put them on; the world came into immediate focus.

"Hey, you look kind of cute with those on," the now-visible young cop said, smiling. "You remember me, right? I'm Adachi. Dojima-san and I picked you up from the hospital yesterday."

"Hospital?"

"Hey, you're talking again? Hmm... well, I guess it must have been pretty confusing for you. I'm not surprised you don't remember much."

Right. I remembered grey skies, and the voices of men- and sirens. His voice sounded a little familiar, come to think of it. And...

"Mayumi Yamano," I said.

"Eh?" Adachi said, doing a double take. "Oh yeah, what about her? Did you remember something else?" he asked quickly.

"Just the name... and a face."

"So...you did know the lady from the news?" he frowned a little.

I paused. "I don't... think so?"

"Well... no use thinking on an empty stomach, I suppose. Come on, the other guys got something together for you; you must be starving by now, right?"

I nodded, immediately feeling a little faint. Strangely, I hadn't noticed how hungry I'd been until he pointed it out.

Adachi opened the door, stepping just outside before pausing as something occurred to him. "Oh, that's right; Kuroda-san brought some of his daughter's old clothes for you too. That kimono of yours is nice, but not exactly suited to walking around town, you know?" he said with a smirk, holding up a small box he'd been carrying.

"Hm?" I looked down at myself for the first time. I didn't see anything wrong with what I'd been wearing so far, but if it was a gift, I couldn't very well refuse it. I nodded a little.

"Great. I'll wait outside then," Adachi said, handing me the box and closing the door behind him.

I used the opportunity to think. Who was I again?

I wracked my brain for the answer. None were forthcoming. Some fragments of last night, perhaps, scattered images of people in white bustling back and forth... but nothing about myself. Hospital, grey skies, and before that... nothing.

Not even a name. I furrowed my brow; that was the strangest part. Identities were important; why would I forget my own name?

I changed into the clothes left to me quickly. It was a simple blouse and skirt, probably indistinguishable from any other teenage girl's most utilitarian outfit, and yet it still felt slightly... uncomfortable. Somehow, I felt more exposed this way.

I pushed aside the vague desire to climb back into the grey kimono and left the room. It didn't escape my notice that the door locked from the outside.

"All ready now?" Adachi asked, grinning. "Hey, you cleaned up well."

"You said you had breakfast ready?" I asked. I was starting to feel lightheaded; how long _had _it been since I last ate?

"Alright, alright," he chuckled, "Follow me."

Adachi led me through the office. I kept to the side out of the way of the various officers, but that didn't stop me from getting a couple odd stares as I followed Adachi; I seemed to be in a... police precinct? Why would I be here?

Because I'd been picked up by the police, of course. Last night, by Adachi and his partner- though I still couldn't remember the specifics. Well, one mystery down at any rate.

Dojima-san turned out to be a surly older man. He sat at the table in the break room, fingering a white packet in his pocket before Adachi and I stepped in; after that, he just grunted and glared at us. Me, mostly.

"Ah- uh, good morning Dojima-san. Could I get you-"

"Coffee. You know how I take it," the senior detective muttered, looking away from him. Adachi scurried off quickly; despite being partners, their dynamic looked pretty one-sided.

I chose to ignore his stare entirely and start on the food on the table; it wasn't anything fancy, just a portion of rice with a few greasy sausages and a baked egg, but it still tasted like ambrosia to my starved mouth. Dojima quirked an eyebrow, but left me to my meal.

"That's an impressive appetite," chuckled one of the other officers in the room. I didn't know his name.

Eventually when Adachi returned with his coffee and I was down to grabbing individual grains of rice with my chopsticks, Dojima decided it was time to talk.

"So. Have you remembered anything else since yesterday?"

I shook my head, more focused on the rice than anything else.

"What about Mayumi Yamano?"

"Uh, Dojima-san, we weren't supposed to interrogate her, right?" Adachi cut in quickly. "I mean, we can't really take testimony, can we? There wasn't actually any crime committed. Uh, as far as I can see?"

"Well, there's at least a case of child abandonment going on," Dojima muttered. "We're still dispersing the information, but it doesn't look like anyone's out looking for you yet. This town's pretty small, so there's not much chance you just wandered off from somewhere nearby. We don't really have a place to put you, so..."

"Detective Dojima offered to take you in for the next little while," Adachi cut in.

"Just until your guardians are found," Dojima added quickly.

I considered, then took a sip of coffee. Adachi only brought one back, so I stole Dojima's. Fortunately, everyone was distracted watching me for a response and didn't notice.

"Alright. So I'll be staying with you, then," I reiterated.

"Right," Dojima-san nodded. "I never really introduced myself, did I? I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'm a senior detective here at the precinct, and I suppose I'll be looking after you for the next little bit... that's about it."

"I'm not sure who I am," I said honestly. "But thank you."

I could tell the man was doing me a favor, and he seemed pleased enough with that response, even if I don't think he fully believed me. Still, he seemed honest enough, so I didn't mind living with him for a while. It would probably be better than the precinct.

Apparently, Detective Dojima had the day off and only came by to pick me up. We left not too long after that conversation, and though I could tell all the officers were still watching me, only Adachi came to talk before I left.

"Hey Specs-chan," he said, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder. He casually checked if anyone was listening in before leaning forward a little.

"Be nice to Dojima-san, alright? He's not very friendly, but he's nice in his own way, you know? Oh, and say hi to Nanako-chan for me, will you?" he whispered before patting me on the shoulder and strolling by casually.

Naturally, I asked who Nanako-chan was once Dojima and I were on the road.

"Did Adachi tell you that name?" he asked, sounding more set-upon than annoyed. "She's my daughter, I guess I should've mentioned that to you earlier. You don't have to worry, she's a good kid.

"I got today off in exchange for taking you, so I'll help you settle in today. I usually work pretty late hours, though, so Nanako should be able to help with anything after that; my cell number's at the house in case of emergencies."

He paused and glanced over at me; I'd been listening, but paying too much attention out the window to really respond.

Inaba was interesting; all the people milling around, and the tiny little worn shops that dotted the road. There were people walking and talking and interacting, and it looked like they got along despite probably being acquaintances at the very most; these people probably wouldn't have looked at eachother twice in anywhere bigger. It was interesting, and I'd have liked explored it on foot if I hadn't been occupied already.

Dojima shook his head just slightly. "That reminds me. If nobody comes to pick you up in a couple days, I'd like for you to start school here. The doctors say it might trigger your memories again; if not, at least you won't lose a year of education. We should have something worked out with Yasogami High before the end of the week."

Highschool. That was a concept I knew, somehow. Did I used to go to school?

Well, I guess I had to learn this stuff I knew somewhere.

"Incidentally, we initially thought you might have been here on a school trip. It might explain your clothes of yours if you were part of a traditional dance club of some sort," he said, shaking his head. "Dead end though. There aren't many visitors to Inaba right now, and it's the wrong time of year for school trips. The semester just started today, after all."

He paused.

"If you could remember anything at all, It'd be really helpful to us."

I took my eyes off of Inaba for a second.

"...Sorry. But if it helps... I don't think I'm from around here," I said. It was a feeling more than a memory; this town was new to me.

"You don't say," he muttered. I probably confirmed something he'd already figured out.

The rest of the car ride went on in relative silence. Dojima didn't have anything else to say, apparently, and I didn't feel like starting a new conversation.

Inaba remained the same as far as my view from the car could reach. Small and without much, but making do with what it did. I noticed a number of the small businesses we passed were shuttered or boarded up as we got closer to the shopping district. Dojima must have noticed my glance, because he sighed a little at it.

"That'd be the fault of the new Junes. Or so they say anyway. When the big box chain rolls in, local businesses just can't compete."

"You don't like this Junes, then?" I said.

"Like I said, it's just what I hear. Junes isn't going anywhere, so it's pointless yelling about it now. I've been saving a bundle on dinners thanks to it, so I suppose I can't complain."

I noticed a bag with a logo I presumed was Junes' in the back seat. Looked like the detective had picked up something from them earlier that day, even.

"I just feel bad for the families. This is a pretty traditional neighbourhood, so most of the shops have been around for a long time. A lot of them are falling on hard times."

* * *

.

**4/12**

**Dojima Household**

.

* * *

We pulled into a small driveway. The house seemed typical enough of its make, though I noticed they had a bit more land than the adjacent houses did around the sides; it was probably an older property. Still, it looked dignified, and in well repair, not entirely unlike Dojima-san himself.

"Well, we're here. This'll be your home for the next little while, so welcome to the household," Dojima said , a little stiffly. I took in that idea, and nodded a little. Mostly to myself. This would be my home- for the moment.

"Thank you, Dojima-san," I said with a bow.

He waved his hand. "Alright, alright, no need to be so formal. Now, come on in before Nanako gets worried."

Nanako turned out to be a very small girl, probably no older than eight. She was parked at the television before we came in, but reacted immediately to the door opening.

"Welcome home!" she smiled as her father came through- though the spark in her eyes changed into confusion when I followed immediately behind.

"Hello," I said to her, giving her a slight wave.

Nanako didn't seem like she knew how to respond, so she looked to her father.

Dojima, shockingly enough, smiled at that. He seemed to transform completely in Nanako's presence.

"This is our guest, Nanako. She'll be staying with us for a little while, so be nice to her, alright?"

Nanako nodded a little at that, though she still eyed me suspiciously. She grabbed onto the side of the table next to her as if to hide behind it for a while.

Dojima shook his head, threw his jacket onto a chair in the kitchen, and went to support his daughter. "C'mon Nanako, introduce yourself. She's a kid I'm helping out for work, and I'd like it if you keep an eye out for her."

Detective Dojima was stiff, even when talking to his daughter, but I still marvelled at the about-face. It was like he swapped out one mask for another. Was this common, and I just didn't remember it?

"...lo," Nanako eventually managed in my direction, avoiding making eye contact. "I'm... Nanako Dojima. Pleased to... meet...ou..." she mumbled.

"Don't worry too much about it, she's just shy meeting new people," Dojima said, "I'm sure she'll-"

"Hello again, Nanako-san. Thank you for having me in your house," I replied. I didn't want to cut off Dojima, but I didn't want to have to use him as a messenger for his daughter either. "I'd very much like it if you could show me around, later."

"Oh. Uhm... sure..." Nanako said, maybe a little less tense. I was starting to think the Dojima household didn't have visitors very often.

"Uhm, sorry but... what's your name?" Nanako asked. Dojima paused.

"I don't know," I replied honestly.

"Hunh?" Nanako seemed confused.

"Ah... she might have amnesia," Dojima said, "that means she can't remember certain things, like who she is or where she came from."

"Oh. That's..." Nanako started, looking at me with big brown eyes. I hadn't known eight year olds were capable of that much pity, but then again I was learning a lot today.

"...Uhm, so what should I call you?" she asked after a moment.

That was actually a very good question. The police had mostly danced around my name -aside from Adachi- but that couldn't last forever. No luck in trying to remember my real name, either.

In fact, the only name I knew since I woke up was...

"Mayumi..." I muttered to myself. It wasn't mind, but at least it was something.

"Huh? Uhm... Azumi?" Nanako repeated, looking at me curiously. "I couldn't really hear that..."

Well, that worked as well as anything else, really.

Names were important, even if you had to borrow one.

"Yes. Call me Azumi."

Azumi. School. Precinct. Detective Dojima. Nanako.

Yellow. Yellow and...blue? Blue. There was something about the blue. Something important- if only I could remember.

I sank back onto the couch. This wasn't helping.

Dojima gave me a room on the second floor. It was comfortable enough once a few things had been moved around, and I had a decent view of the outside street. Dojima had said he wanted me to settle in, which turned out to mostly consist of wasting time. I'd tried to use it meditating on my thoughts, in the hope some of my memory might return, but unfortunately that seemed to be a lost cause.

Very well. If I couldn't find what I needed in my head, I could look elsewhere.

There was a small, dusty TV in the room that I'd been using to catch up on the news. Aside from appearing there, Mayumi Yamano's name was the only thing tying me to Inaba. And unlike the police, I had the time to actually chase that lead.

Fortunately, that name was still plastered all across the news, along with her former boyfriend and his wife. Mitsuzu Hiiragi didn't appear to have anything to do with me, but Taro Namatame had actually been born in this town- and apparently returned after the scandal broke. That was something I might be able to work with.

Otherwise, though, there was little I could do but whittle away the hours. I flipped through the television channels; funnily enough, nothing was as interesting to me as Inaba itself was. There was a fog warning tonight, but apparently that was typical for the area. Inaba was foggy.

Fog.

I frowned a little, and tilted my head upwards. Sometimes, I felt like I was just on the cusp- a word, sometimes, or a concept, that strikes a chord in my head before slipping away. It was like trying to use a lost limb; sometimes you feel the ghost of its presence, no matter how impossible it was to grow back.

"Uhm, Azumi..." came the voice of the small girl peeking her head just around the door. I moved my eyes from the ceiling to her face, and she didn't shy away. Progress.

"Dinner is almost ready," she said before darting out of sight again.

When I came down, the places had already been set out on the living room floor. I kneeled across from Dojima's spot, waited for the rest of them to give thanks for the food, and immediately dug in.

We ate in silence for a few minutes. Nanako looked a little uncomfortable still, but I wasn't quite sure what to say to her; I took it to mean they didn't have dinner guests very often. I refrained from asking why her mother wasn't here; something told me that line of questioning could make the whole thing even more awkward.

"Azumi," Dojima said, pausing in his meal. It was the first time he'd called me by that name.

"Yes, Dojima-san?" I responded.

"...I've been meaning to ask, but how much, exactly, can you remember? You say you don't have any memories, but you can use chopsticks well enough."

I spun one of the sticks around a finger idly, taking a moment to think about it between bites of fried rice. My memories were annoyingly sporadic- recalling anything specific was impossible, but any amount of second-hand information about day to day life seemed to flow generously.

"...I guess it just comes as I need it," I muttered while searching for more kerns of egg in the rice. I could feel the detectives' eyes on the back of my head; he wasn't buying it.

"Are... you fighting?" Nanako asked.

"Huh? No, Nanako, I'm just trying to make sure she's..." Dojima started, to Nanako's consternation.

"No fighting at home, remember Dad?" she said sternly. Her father looked taken aback for a second, before he broke a smile.

"Right, Nanako, I forgot. Why don't we just finish our dinner, then?" he said, smiling. "I can help you with your homework after we're done."

"Really?" Nanako said, face lit up in shock. "Yay! That'll be- oh?" she asked, as Dojima's cell begun to ring. The detective looked immediately cross and excused himself from the table before answering, mumbling about incompetent interns all the while.

"Dojima here," he murmured into the device, exchanging words quickly. "What are you- What? Repeat that. Here?" he said, looking increasingly agitated. A moment later, he pulled on his coat. "I'm coming over now," he said before hanging up and looking back at the two girls in the living area.

"I'm heading out for a little while. Nanako, keep an eye out for Azumi. Both of you, stay inside until I get back," he said quickly, slipping out the door before either could respond.

Nanako bit her lip.

"Dad looked upset," she said quietly. All of a sudden, she looked a lot smaller than she had all night.

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I continued eating despite the flavor having died with the mood.

* * *

.

**4/12**

**Inaba**

.

* * *

A broken body, tangled in the wiring like a fly caught in a web.

Dojima frowned and lit a cigarette.

"Sir, it's..." Adachi muttered, ashen faced. He looked like he was about to be sick.

"Two people caught in television antennas in two days," Dojima said, more to himself than his partner. "What's going on here?"

"It's not just that, Dojima-san," he said, shaking his head. "That's... that's Mayumi Yamano, isn't it? The announcer? ...You don't think...?"

The elder detective didn't say anything.

But he took out his cell, and made a call.


	5. 4-13 - Shopping District

**4/13**

**Inaba Local Precinct**

.

* * *

"Wakey wakey, Specs."

I groaned and twisted a little in my sheets before opening my eyes; a bleary humanlike figure lurked at the doorframe. Well, this was familiar.

Adachi came into focus once I'd put on my glasses; he was grinning, but somewhat uncomfortably.

"Sorry about ushering you out like this, but we'll be needing this room in a few minutes. Besides, it's not healthy for kids like you to sleep all day," he chuckled.

I stared at him and blankly parsed what he'd said. I shook my head a little; this was fine. I remembered why I was here, so I pulled myself out of the bed.

There was a pile of clean clothes on a chair by the wall, and Adachi quietly stepped out so I could change- as well as get my thoughts into order. The last few events of the previous night were mostly a blur, with the necessary bits and pieces sticking out like needles in the haystack.

The murder of Mayumi Yamano. Why did that not surprise me?

Naturally, they'd been suspicious; I was found in a similar situation just the other day, after all. Obviously I had something to do with it- or at least, according to them. The questions had gone on and on, but even if I could've actually responded this time, I still had nothing to say. It'd been a full blown interrogation, and without a scrap of information to go on, it'd just been long, tiring and frustrating for everyone involved.

Eventually, Dojima just told me to stay here for the night. Again.

I left the room again, neatly folding my old robes on the chair; the kimono they found me in made for decent night clothing. Adachi was waiting outside, and gave me an easy grin when I came outside.

"Morning," he greeted, "You know, Specs-chan, I didn't expect to be making a habit out of waking you up in the morning."

"My name is Azumi now."

"Oh right, you did say that last night, didn't you? Sorry, Azumi-chan, heh," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Things were getting a bit... hectic back there. You know Dojima was getting pretty worried given... well, you know."

That he had left a possible murder suspect alone with his daughter? That seemed reasonable enough, though at the time I'd been as confused as Nanako. The relief on the detective's face once he'd seen nothing had happened was palpable, though it didn't stop him from arresting me on the spot.

"Oh, you're free to go by the way," Adachi added breezily as the thought occurred to him. "We've got nothing linking you to the murder except the similar circumstances, and you've got a rock-solid alibi from Dojima-san himself after he gave it a bit of thought. You know, I think they were just overreacting a bit when they arrested you; you know how people get under stress."

His eyes seemed to twinkle a little, despite the dark circles beneath under them. "This is the first big case here in years. Back over in the city it'd be nothing, but, word travels fast in a small place like this; it's only natural people started jumping to conclusions early."

Whenever something abnormal happened, you'd always find someone willing to talk about it, regardless of how much they actually knew. Adachi-san likely didn't know anything more about the crime than any other investigators did, and yet here he was casually chatting it up with me. I decided to take advantage a little.

"Adachi-san... did they learn anything new since last night?" I asked, looking towards the young detective.

"That's... rather forward of you to ask, Azumi-chan," Adachi said, suddenly looking a little awkward. "Well, then again, I suppose it's natural to be curious..." he muttered, nodding to himself. "What's the best way to say this... 'No', I guess? The entire police force is still pretty stumped, if I'm being honest," he said with a slight shrug.

I raised an eyebrow and he backpedaled.

"Ah-he-hey wait, I didn't mean it like that! Really, we're making progress, it's just going a little slower than usual since the crime's so weird, right?" Adachi quickly added, clearing his throat. "I mean, on an antenna? How do you even set that up without anyone seeing? You'd think there'd be lots of witnesses. But nope, not a single one as far as we can tell; it's been a real pain. Information been coming at a glacial pace... Loads of prank calls, though."

He chuckled a little to himself. "I mean, some people even think it might not have been a homicide at all; how dumb is that? How could you die on an antenna accidentally?"

"...You don't have any witnesses?" I asked. Then why did they need the interrogation room?

"Well, aside from the Konishi girl anyway," Adachi amended, resting his hand on his neck. "But all she did was find the body, so I doubt we'll get anything new from her. Dojima-san should be bringing her around in a few minutes, actually," he added, glancing at his watch.

There was a puzzle to be found here, then.

"Adachi-san... could I ask you something?" I said tentatively. Something was starting to fall into place. Not a memory, exactly, but...

"Hm? Uh, sure Specs-chan, what do you need?" he said quickly.

"What you know about Mayumi Yamano?" I asked, surprising even myself a little. The one memory I kept -that name- was at the center of this. I wanted to chase after it.

The news that Mayumi Yamano died hadn't hit me hard. I'd never known her, after all; she was as much a stranger to me as anyone else. Even if I did know her name. But despite that, I had to chase after her- it wasn't even a question. I needed to know what happened to Mayumi Yamano.

So I had to follow the only lead I had.

Adachi was surprised, and maybe a little affronted. "Yamano? The victim? Well, same as anyone else, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is there any particular reason..."

"Just curious," I muttered back. He didn't seem to buy it. "If I can remember her name, maybe learning more would jog my memory."

"Well..." he hesitated. "Alright, but not a word to Dojima-san, okay?"

"Promise."

"Well... alright. Turns out, she'd actually been here in Inaba for a couple days- staying at the Amagi Inn. And not only that, that Namatame character she'd been having an affair with- he was back in town too. Sounds kinda odd, doesn't it? The both of them independently deciding to come here of all places on their own?"

I blinked. "But then the most obvious suspect has to be...?"

"Namatame? No, we checked him out first. His alibi's solid. Still, I can't just rule him out, personally; it seems just to convenient, you know? It's hard to shake the feeling he's related to all this somehow..." Adachi said, nodding a little to himself.

I knew Namatame had been back in town, but Mayumi had as well? Was it even be possible they hadn't seen eachother even once since the breakup? This required more investigating.

"Adachi-san, could you tell me-"

"I think it's probably best we stop there, Specs-chan... Azumi-chan," Adachi interrupted with an easygoing smile. "No offense, but Dojima'd tan my hide if he knew I was talking with you about the case."

Annoying. But then again, getting all my information from one source probably wasn't such a great idea; I'd have to look around on my own. I was feeling restless anyway.

"We should probably grab breakfast; Dojima-san told me to keep an eye on you until he gets back, so you don't need to worry about being left alone."

I adjusted my glasses silently.

"Yamano? No, nothing. Far as we figure, she stayed in the hotel for most of the visit," Sergeant Takahashi said, flitting through the paperwork. As with most of those involved in the case, he'd been nearly drowned in forms once the media took notice- and appreciated coffee being brought to him enough to talk about it when questioned.

I almost sighed. I'd been hoping for more, but...

"She had purchase receipts from Junes and Tatsumi Textiles, but zilch aside. We're don't even know when she went missing; she was gone before our security detail got there. If that weren't all, nobody even saw her go; she basically vanished into thin air."

Namatame probably would have been able to lure her into leave the hotel in secret- they had been lovers, after all. Still, there was the matter of his alibi to deal with- nobody around seemed willing to shed light on that, regardless of how incessantly I pushed them about it.

Ironically, Adachi seemed to help me out the most by doing his job as poorly as possible.

"Namatame? Sorry, kid. Stuff on the suspect's confidential," Takahashi said, shaking his head when I spoke with him. "I wouldn't know much anyway, that'd be investigator in charge's gig. You wouldn't want him breathing down your neck either, trust me."

Then he patted me on the head, thanked me for the coffee again, and sent me on my way.

With little left to do, I settled around the entrance to wait again for Dojima's arrival, ignoring the occasional looks from the receptionist on duty. Adachi flitted back now and then to check up on me, but never stayed long.

Eventually, just as I was beginning to feel sleepy again, the door gave way to a familiar man and an unfamiliar girl.

Saki Konishi (so named by a number of different officers) was a girl of around my approximate age, wearing an anxious expression and a black school uniform. A similar one, likely purchased only days earlier, hung in the closet of the Dojima household's guest room.

Dojima-san (so named by number of different officers), looked as intimidating as usual and wore a face like he'd stepped in something unpleasant on the way, though he tried to wipe if off before he turned to face me. Considering they'd been extensively late by all accounts, I could only assume something happened during transit of the witness.

"Hello, Dojima-san," I greeted. It was the first thing I'd said to him since my interrogation last night.

He visibly sighed. "Azumi. I'm going to be spending a while here at the station. Do you think you can take care of yourself for a few hours for now?"

I told him I could, and he nodded vaguely in response before stalking father into the office. Saki went to follow, but paused when I grabbed the cuff of her shirt on the way.

"After this. I need to speak with you," I said so there wouldn't be any misunderstanding. She paused for only a moment before continuing to follow the grim investigator, strolling past without any clear response.

I took that to be a fair sign, brushed off my skirt, then meandered to the exit of the precinct and my first real steps outside.

* * *

.

**4/13**

**Inaba Shopping District**

**.**

* * *

For a while, I just wandered around Inaba's streets. It was quiet, but there was plenty of action to be found- people on bicycles, people in cars, even people just walking down the streets. Often, they stopped to talk when their numerous paths crossed. Nobody spoke to me, but that was well enough- I was fine with just observing.

School must have still been in session. I didn't see any uniforms about, and every so often there was a disconcerted mutter from some of the older citizens as I passed by; I only caught sentence fragments, but their topic was clear enough.

Curiously, fewer seemed to be speaking about the killing than I'd anticipated; their primary concerns seemed to be the state of the local school system, or rather the 'delinquents' running amok, specifically. More than a few blamed Junes.

"I tell you, it just goes to show how few decent people there are in this town; people were honest back in the old days."

"Just another sign of how this town's been heading into the gutter. It's change for change's sake that going' to be the death of us, I tell you what. What was wrong with the old ways?"

"The old ways really were best, you know."

The crime scene was still taped up, though only a couple officers stayed to man it. They had less to say than back at the precinct, but they did, at least, recognize me when I stopped by. One of them seemed apologetic for the interrogation last night.

My second destination was at the other side of Inaba, and significantly harder to find.

Tatsumi Textiles was a small, modest store, located in the graveyard of Inaba's shopping district; even the shrine next door seemed broken and dirtied, no longer the sacred place it might have once been. Fewer people milled around the area here than usual, almost as if people could smell the aura of failed business and took pains to avoid it.

Though the textiles shop Mayumi Yamano had visited was immediately next door, I loitered by the entrance to the old shrine. I was struck by a feeling that I should pay my respects to Inaba's kami, if only because it appeared nobody else did. Did Junes have a monopoly on prayer, too?

"...There's no need for you to act the hero, Tatsumi-san. We're willing to come to an agreement if you'd listen to us for a few minutes."

It appeared a group had already beaten me to the punch- a number of men, dressed in dark colors and glowering down at a blond-haired boy in the middle- save for the redhead attempting to pacify everyone.

"...Tch. Like I'd believe that, assholes," The blond retorted, holding up a circular metal object, possibly a trashcan lid, as if it were a weapon. "Tell your damn uncle to keep his bike off my ma's property or I'll wreck his shit again! I can take all you guys on again, any time!" he growled. One of the surrounding thugs flinched.

"Look, Tatsumi-san, here's the deal; they've agreed stop passing by here in the middle of the night, so long as you stop attacking them in the middle of the day. Perhaps you could meet us half way, and-" the redheaded ringleader was suddenly cut off by a fist, and he staggered backwards briefly, clutching at his nose.

His goons made a move forward, but the injured man called them off with a gesture. Tatsumi scoffed and cracked his knuckles.

"Next time you want to talk, leave the cronies at home. I'm out of here," he muttered, turning and blowing past the rest of the group. They let him walk out of the shine area unhindered- despite their obvious enmity, it seemed they weren't about to chase him down for it. Because they didn't want to disobey orders? Or were they really just scared of a highschool kid?

He crossed my path on the way down, and our eyes met briefly.

"...What're you looking at?" he snarled, then grunting and stalked off. The door to the textile shop closed with a bang not a minute later, and with their opponent gone, the group groused in earnest- though not before checking on their spokesman's injury.

"Guys, guys, I'm fine," the apparent leader said, waving off their attention. He was younger than expected, and on closer inspection might even have been wearing a school uniform- though not the one I was familiar with. As he said, he seemed to be alright, minus a small nosebleed from the punch.

"...Kid, that girl there. Should we shut her up?" I heard one mutter as I approached. I didn't pay them much mind and walked past. The shrine grounds were mostly as I expected- small, quaint and undermaintained.

I didn't have anything to offer, but the red-head walked over and slipped in a few coins into the offering box, suddenly.

"...I hoped talking on holy ground would make him less inclined to violence. Apologies, kami of Inaba, for an unsightly display," he said, possibly as a sort of mock-prayer, before turning to me directly.

"Kazuhiko Sushin. My uncle runs the local garage. Er, sorry you had to hear that- it's not what you think, but it might get annoying if people started talking about it. I don't suppose you... wouldn't mind keeping quiet for us?"

"Azumi Dojima. My guardian is a detective for the local constabulary," I said.

"-Er, as I said, it isn't what you think. They're just a group of clients that kid decided to pursue a vendetta against. I just got into town myself, so they figured a neutral party might-"

"I won't tell anyone about you if you could give me information on Tatsumi-san," I interrupted.

Kazuhiko blinked. "You want... information on Tatsumi?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose that's fine..." he muttered, walking over to a bench while waving away the goons still lurking around. They glared at me, but obediently left the area- the relation between the boy and the biker group was suspect to say the least, but that didn't have anything to do with Yamano's murder, so I didn't register it as important.

"What do you need to know specifically? I'm not from around here myself, so what I can tell you is limited." he asked, still sounding suspicious. He had a curious habit of fingering the button on his left cuff as he sat.

"Does he work at his family's shop?" I asked. "Particularly, would he deal with customers? You wouldn't know of any connection to Mayumi Yamano, would you?"

"I don't think so," Kazuhiko said with a frown, further deepening as he heard that name. "And I highly doubt he had anything to do with Yamano. She bought a scarf here, right? That's what you're here about?"

He was still touching the button at his sleeve, and something in his expression hardened.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about the murder, would you?" I asked, briefly touching my glasses.

"Not any more than anyone else," Kazuhiko said.

"You seem concerned."

"Well, who wouldn't be? It's murder and the culprit still hasn't been found. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Killers don't deserve to be called human," he muttered, then shook his head and got up.

"Sorry I couldn't help more," he said, excusing himself quickly without waiting for a reply. I watched him walk down the shrine hill, the rest of his group following close behind, for a few seconds.

Then, I knelt and said a short prayer.

* * *

.

**4/13**

**Inaba Local Precinct**

.

* * *

Unfortunately, Tatsumi Textiles was closed for the day and Kanji Tatsumi seemed unlikely to grant a personal audience. It was getting late, so I decided to head back to the precinct to wait for Saki's interrogation to end- given my own experiences, I thought I knew roughly about how long it took for one of those to finish.

Apparently, I did not.

"Konishi-san? Ah, sorry Specs-chan, but she went home hours ago. We were only taking a few statements after all," Adachi said in his usual tone.

He chuckled a little at my silent response.

"Why do you need to speak with her anyway, Azumi-chan? Planning an investigation of your own?" he asked, smiling.

The question was rhetorical and the answer was yes anyway, so I didn't respond. Still, he shook his head.

"Eh, well- I guess there are a few questions we did forget to ask her the first time. I was going to head out in a bit to go look for her, actually... but I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you tagged along," he said with a smirk. I inclined my head a little.

"Thank you, Adachi-san," I said.

"Just don't tell Dojima-san, okay?"

* * *

.

**4/13**

**Inaba**

**.**

* * *

Adachi and I decided to walk to Konishi Liquor (Adachi was frugal with his car use and claimed the fewer times he had to visit the Moel Station, the fewer problems he'd have in the long run), only to be told at the door she still hadn't returned from work. Fortunately, she worked at Junes, which both Adachi and I had been meaning to visit anyway.

"I forgot to pick up enough cabbage last time," he said, smiling.

I just figured with as much as the townspeople talk about it, there was probably _some _sort of clue hidden in that department store.

Either way, the distance to Junes by foot was substantial. Adachi looked like he wanted to complain, but gave me a momentary glance and brushed it off. Instead, he just smiled and kept talking to me- as usual.

"So, Azumi-chan, how do you like Inaba? Kinda small, right? I know it can be pretty boring at first, but there's plenty of fun if you know where to look."

"It's nice," I said, idly. "I don't think it's small at all."

"We-ll... I guess it makes sense you'd think that, what without memories of what a city should be like and all," he nodded to himself. "Still, just take a look on the television; I doubt you'd see a boring town like this."

He was both right and wrong at the same time, but I couldn't think of a way to properly articulate my thoughts, so I didn't. Adachi took that as an invitation to keep going.

"Even that murder case is kinda like that, you know? Back in the city, it'd barely be newsworthy, let alone the talk of the town. We wouldn't be out investigating this thoroughly if it wasn't sleepy old Inaba... ah, I'm rambling again," he said, shaking his head. This was probably why Ryotaro Dojima kept him on such a short leash.

We walked in relative silence for a while longer, until we eventually passed by a park. That would have gone on without comment if Adachi hadn't noticed one of the figures beneath the gazebo.

"Hey, isn't that Namatame-san?" he said, mostly to himself. "And he's speaking to a highschooler... hey, wait- that's Saki Konishi!"

Technically speaking, Namatame wasn't even an official suspect- his alibi, whatever it may have been, was airtight.

And yet at the same time, it was hard to completely rule him out of the crime entirely- his breakup, after all, had preceded the bloody incident only days in advance. Him speaking with the only known 'witness' was a suspicious turn at best- and Adachi agreed with me.

He glanced at me for a moment, then inclined his head briefly.

"Alright Specs-chan, small change of plans, alright?" he said. "Me and Namatame-san are going to have a small chat about how he's been treating girls lately- while you make sure Konishi-san makes it home safe and sound, you got me?"

I'd have liked to have spoken with Namatame as well, but if Adachi didn't want a civilian witness, then it couldn't be helped. We broke up the conversation moments later, not managing to catch any of it- Namatame looked almost like he wanted to bolt at first, but he was in an open area and Adachi had him cornered. Saki, for her part, looked relieved to get away from the older man but was less enthused by me walking her home.

"...Thanks for the offer, but I don't need an escort," she said blandly as I retraced the steps I'd already taken, back towards the Shopping District. We had, in fact, been walking for a full two minutes before she deigned to talk to me.

"You were the discoverer of Mayumi Yamano's body, correct?" I asked again, just to be certain.

"...Hey, you were that girl. Back at the police office," she finally responded, narrowing her eyes a little. "You're pretty rude, just demanding information like that."

"Sorry."

In any case, she'd answered my question enough just by ignoring it.

I spoke again when she didn't follow up immediately. "Was there anything suspicious you found about the body?"

"Yes. It was dead. I guess."

"I meant about the murder in general."

"I don't know, was it a murder?" she muttered, shaking her head. "I've never seen a dead body before. It was on an antenna if that helps. I'm not really in a mood to play twenty questions."

I suddenly realized why the police finished her interrogation so quickly.

"Look, do you think you're some sort of kid detective or something?" she snapped when I left her another opening in the conversation. "Because don't think you're the only one to ask that; I can't walk five steps without stepping on some vulture who wants to break the 'big case'. Do you even care about this Yamano person, or are you just hopping on the armchair mystery bandwagon?"

That silence stretched from seconds into minutes. Then Saki scoffed, but I still didn't let her walk too far away from me.

I was still trying to think of ways to bring up other questions she'd actually answer when a third voice broke the ice from behind.

"Saki-senpai!" called a boy who as he rode up us on his bicycle, "I was looking around for you. I thought your shift didn't end until a little later, though?" he said as he came to a complete stop. His most distinguishing characteristic was that Saki Konishi didn't ignore him.

"Oh... hey, Yosuke-kun," she greeted, a small smile creeping at the corners of her lips. "I had someone cover the end of my shift. It's stock day at my parent's liquor store, and you know how lost they are if they don't have someone around to help..."

"Well in that case, why don't I give you a hand? You know me, I don't mind physical labor," he smirked before glancing over at me curiously. "Ah... Hey, Senpai, who's your friend?"

Saki managed a short chuckle at him offering to work, but it evaporated when he brought me up.

"Oh... she's just..." she started.

"Azumi Dojima. I was just walking Saki home," I said evenly.

"Hmm, well I guess it does make sense to stay in groups, what with that murderer on the loose..." he said vaguely. "I'm Yosuke Hanamura by the way. Glad to meet you," he smiled as he stretched out his hand toward me.

"Likewise," I just nodded back.

When I didn't take it, he used the outstretched hand to scratch the back of his neck istead. "I don't think I've seen you around here before, Dojima-san. Do you live in the area?"

I nodded. "As of recently. I'll be attending Yasugami High in a few days as well," I said in a measured tone.

"Yasugami? Hey, Senpai and I go there too. Maybe we'll be in the same class."

"And Yosuke only transferred a few months ago himself," Saki added. Her eyes narrowed. "He's nice, but he can be annoyingly persistent at times; try not to follow his example, alright Dojima-san?"

"Ah, she doesn't really mean that," Yosuke added quickly.

I nodded noncommittally. Yosuke and Saki mostly overlooked my presence following that, and chatted idly through most of the walk back.

Despite her cold exterior, Saki loosened up considerably when Yosuke spoke with her- not quite to the point of a smile, but it came close on occasion. It helped that for all the things the boy wanted to talk about, the killing wasn't on his list; perhaps that let Saki let down her guard. Regardless of the reason, it still didn't help me if she wasn't telling my anything anyway.

"So Hana-chan, why'd you chase after me anyway? I swear you're like a lovestruck puppy," she admonished.

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm exceptionally mature," Yosuke protested in jest. "I stopped by Junes. People there said you weren't feeling well, so I came to check up on you; is something wrong? You can tell me if there is."

"Ha... no, I've just been... pretty tired recently," she said, shaking her head- and giving me a significant look from the corner of her eye. "I just need rest, that's all. Guess it's lucky this month's order isn't very big..."

"Well, you never know. Alcohol bottles can get pretty tricky- I restocked the sake section at work last month, and it took almost three hours just to get the crates in. And it's all fragile, so you have to bring in the smaller boxes by hand- talk about a pain in the back!"

Saki laughed politely.

In the end, I never thought of a way to bring up another question again during their flow of conversation, and ended up just splitting from the two of them once we got back to Konishi Liquors. Yosuke hadn't been joking earlier, and sincerely offered to help unload the merchandise from the truck parked out front.

"You realize we're not paying you, right?" Saki asked with a bemused smirk. "And this isn't the only truck either. We'll be getting deliveries all night."

"All the better to have an extra pair of hands around, right? C'mon Senpai, I'm sure your parents won't mind."

Saki rolled her eyes, but seemed unwilling to push the matter further. She made a show of resisting, but Yosuke went into her house to ask her parent's permission without complaint from her- and given that they were getting their eldest daughter to work after her part-time job, I doubted they'd turn down free labor.

"...And what about you? Staying to help carry beer around, Dojima-san?" she asked, her eyes frigid. Regardless of how she acted while Yosuke was around, I could still feel her intentions like a dagger poking into my ribs.

"...I apologize, but I must return home before dark. I'll see you later, Konishi-san," I said with a respectful bow, then turned down the path to the police precinct.

"...Ha. You really don't know anything, do you?" she said, eyes dark but oddly enough almost smiling, before closing the door behind her.

* * *

**.**

**4/13**

**Inaba Local Precinct**

**.**

* * *

Like usual, Dojima was swamped at work; some detective had taken the day off suddenly, and it was up to him to make up the difference. Nanako was on her own once again, and he asked me to stay the night at the station once more.

"...I hate beating around the bush, so I'll just say it," he suddenly said before we parted ways that night. "I don't trust you, Azumi."

"...I see."

"It's not really anything personal. As a parent and as a detective- it's my job to doubt. And frankly, there's a lot to doubt about you; I wouldn't believe your case file if I hadn't written it myself. And with that high-profile murder and all... well, I'd like to think I'm protecting Nanako, even just by taking a few stupid precautions."

I nodded. I could understand that; even to me, in both my history and as an individual, I was essentially a blank slate. Logically, it made perfect sense, even if I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I thought I'd been mostly straightforward to this point, but...

"If I'm wrong and I can count on you to look after Nanako, I'll apologize then. I'm an adult after all; it's my duty to recognize when I'm wrong. I just wanted to let you know it wasn't your fault," he said.

He patted my head and made to leave, though he hesitated for a moment.

"By the way, about that TV..." he said slowly.

An unbidden memory suddenly crept up on me. Something important that I'd forgotten was scratching at the surface. Something recent.

"I had someone check it out; the power's completely fried. Not sure what you saw last night, but it couldn't have turned on."

_It was the middle of the night. Dojima never looked frustrated, but he never let up either; This was my second official interrogation and I still couldn't answer, so my attention was wandering around the small area._

_Just after a clap of thunder sounded in the distance, there was a sound- like an untuned radio. There on the television in the corner of the room, was a lit screen of analogue snow- and the dark outline of a female shape._

"Right," I said, as I entered the interrogation room that was my living quarters.

* * *

.

**4/13 **

**Inaba Local Precinct**

**.**

* * *

Last night, that shadow could have been anything- it was an old television, after all. It was somewhat more curious that the power had been absent entirely, but I hadn't thought it very important until just now, when Dojima brought it up.

There had been a female figure on the screen, hadn't there? I hadn't just fabricated that memory?

There was only one way to figure out. I stared into the screen of the broken television, dressed in the old robes that had become my nightclothes, willing something to happen. Anything.

I still wasn't any closer to figuring out the truth of anything. Like a treadmill, every clue and every setback I experienced evened out- and I couldn't just push forward. For a regular human, that would be unfortunate but tolerable, but I was literally defined by the riddle set out before me.

I had no memories, so, I didn't have an identity either. The moniker of Azumi Dojima was just a convenient handle I picked up; it didn't really belong to me any more than my day clothes did. I had some basic information about the world, but my purpose- my reason for being here- that had been lost, somewhere, in the fog.

And the trail concerning the one thing I could remember had gone cold.

Outwardly, I probably looked composed. And yet, desperately, I needed something to happen -anything- that might give me a concrete foundation to go on. Something definite I could follow- a path to set out before me.

And, as if in answer to unsaid prayer, a path opened up.

The TV flickered on. On the screen, rendered in stark detail, was a small thing- insignificant, perhaps, in comparison to the writhing, mask-wearing monster who chased it. Like me, it had the appearance of a human- but set against a foggy street and skies of red and black, it had little more power than I against the demon set against it. And it was oddly familiar.

"_You can't do anything_," said the thing with a fox's face covering its own. "_You're weak. Saving others? Try saving yourself first! What a joke- you don't know even the first thing about __**where**__ you are, do you? Come on! Tell me!_" it said a warped, demonic tone. "_Come on, fight me! You've always wanted to save the maiden in distress, haven't you? Well, now's your chance! __**Come on! Fight me!**__"_

"H-help..." said the small thing. I recognized the voice.

"_**Help?**__ Who would help __**you**__? C'mon, let's honest- you're nothing but a monster too! A mask without a face! That's why nobody's coming to save you,_" the demon jeered.

"P-please... help me... anyone..." it said again, quietly. Curled up in a ball of terror, a more pathetic sight could scarcely be imagined. Helpless, weak- it could barely be called human.

Yet, deep within the recess of my mind, that very display triggered something unexplainable.

_What is your desire, Azumi Dojima?_

I needed a clue. A hint. Anything.

_Why do you need a hint?_

Because I needed to figure out the cause of Mayumi Yamano's death. That was what I was born for; my purpose.

_Why does that matter?_

It contained my identity- it was important. I needed to search for clues as to who I was, and the first step in that was discovering Mayumi Yamano's murder. That was all I needed to do, right?

...Right?

_Do you feel pity for that human, Azumi Dojima?_

Of course; any human would. Rather, all humans would. That wasn't the question though- would this draw me closer to my purpose, my goal? Could I solve Mayumi Yamano's murder somehow with this?

_Does that matter?_

To find my identity, I had to find the source of the feelings I did have; Mayumi Yamano's name was the core of my purpose, and I couldn't-

_"You don't even know __**what questions to ask**__! It's stupid, you're stupid; go ahead and crawl around thinking you're some sort of hero when really you're just __**BLIND TO EVERYTHING AROUND YOU!"**_the television screeched. The small human wasn't responding now.

"I..." I wasn't the one addressed by that remark. Yet, I found myself responding. "...who am I?"

_Is that the question you should be asking?_

_ Will it lead to an answer?_

What I had been searching for this entire time was a gate. A simple answer to the myriad questions. A path was an opportunity, and a gate was a solution; in that case, I merely needed to follow paths that eventually led to that gate, correct?

But... was it really that simple?

"Anyone, please... help me..." moaned the crawling thing, vocal again suddenly. Still, the mask laughed- it didn't care how much it pleaded, or begged. As far as it was concerned, it was impossible for anyone to save it now- their world was made up of only two, predator and prey, and the barrier between them and anyone else was a thick pane of impenetrable glass.

"...It doesn't matter who I am right now," I said. "Anyone will do... I just need to know..."

** "How do I open this gate?"**

There was a sound like the world breaking. And then, suddenly, I was weightless- and around me, the world spun white and black.

_**I Am Thou**_

I fell into the vortex between dimensions- and as I fell into an undulating tunnel of black and white, around me spun the chuckling of the demon, the whimpering of a human, and a deep voice that I realized with a start was-

_**And Thou Art I.**_


	6. 4-13 - The Other Side of the TV

**4/13**

**The Other Side of the TV**

**.**

* * *

I was unceremoniously dropped into a world of yellow and indistinct shapes. Failing to account the fall, I landed ungracefully- and painfully- but fortunately the element of surprise worked to my advantage.

"What" said either the monster or Yosuke Hamaura. The result was both stood stunned still, and the sentiment seemed shared regardless, so it didn't really matter which it was.

I recovered and grabbed what I assumed was Yosuke's hand, pulling him to his feet.

"Run," I said, before taking off in any direction that wasn't towards a giant lurking silhouette. The world swirled around us, a blend of harsh yellows and blacks that tricked the eye against the cutting contrast of a red sky I could see hints of, bleeding through the sky- and yet, I wasn't able to decipher what I was seeing, yet. This was an alien place.

The fog was even thicker than I suspected- enough to effectively vanish both Yosuke and our enemy even with only a couple feet between us. I'd recognized the former from his pathetic cries for help earlier, but the later was clearly otherworldly and malevolent even if I couldn't make out its particular details; even so, it took it a few full seconds before the monstrosity reacted and gave chase- maybe it couldn't see well either?

"What is _going on?!_" Yosuke demanded from near me. I didn't have an answer for him besides to keep running.

_"Running won't help!"_ came a shrill cry from behind us. _"There's no place for you cowards to hide!"_

Despite that, it didn't appear to be following us very quickly. Maybe it couldn't move very well on the terrain -wherever it was we were- or maybe it just didn't know which way we were going, but at this rate escape certainly didn't seem impossible.

"It can't see well in the fog either," I said for Yosuke's sake. It wasn't a certainty, but it was a deduction I could back up with incidental evidence, which would have to be satisfactory for now.

"But... why? Doesn't it live here?" Yosuke yelled back. I didn't answer this time because it was a pretty pointless question given the circumstances. Things didn't cease to be just because they couldn't be logically explained.

As I suspected, we did manage to lose it eventually- or at least cause it to lose interest. The sounds of its heavy steps gradually faded away, and we were forced to slow down, if only to breathe properly again.

The fog was still too thick to see anything, but we eventually came across a signficiant structure sticking out of the ground, possibly a large rock or wall of some kind. It sufficed for cover either way, and Yosuke promptly dropped to the ground like a cut marionette once he stopped to lean against it.

"This... is a dream, right?" he asked, probably rhetorically, before looking straight at me. It was difficult to make out his facial features; it was apparent something needed to be done about the fog, because I could hardly explore let alone protect myself if we couldn't see even inches in front of our faces.

"That's why you're here, right, Dojima-chan?" he asked with a small smile. Maybe it hadn't been rhetorical. "Right. Because I thought you're cute, I've got a Saki-senpai monster trying to eat me. Ha ha... guess you'd call this one of these lucid dreams, right? Never thought they'd be _this_ lifelike..." he said, shaking his head a little.

I didn't say anything, so he shook his head again.

"... Yeah, of course this isn't a dream. Figures. That'd be too simple, wouldn't it Yosuke?" he muttered to himself.

"...How did you know it was me?" I asked. Something was off.

"Oh? We just met today, didn't we? Hey, give me a bit of credit, I don't forget girls' names that easily," he said whimsically, as if he weren't being stalked by a creature possibly literally out of nightmares.

I shook my head. "Yosuke. How many fingers am I holding up?" I asked, showing three.

"Uh, three right? Why, is that important?" he asked.

I shook my head again. "I wouldn't be able to tell that much from even this distance... Yosuke. You can see better in this fog than I can. Enough to recognize faces, at the least. Why?"

"W-well how should I know?" he demanded, loudly. "I still don't know what any of this is! What's even in this fog? It can't just be water, it's so... yellow."

he paused to breath for a second. "And it feels like everything's so... heavy. Like, I'm getting tired just by standing here," he said, shaking his head. "...Dojima-chan, where... are we?"

"The other side of the television," I said.

"Is... that a metaphor?"

"No. Probably."

"Ah," he said, nodding. He slid down to take a seat on the ground. "Makes as much sense as anything else so far. Why not?"

"What exactly _has_ happened so far?" I asked. "What was that monster and why does it want to kill you?"

"I- I don't know!" Yosuke snapped. "I was searching for Saki-senpai when there was that... _thing, _and it-"

He paused.

"Hey... wait, you don't think that... _was _Saki-senpai, right? Like in one of those horror stories, where the kids who wander into the demon's domain get... AUGH, I've got to stop thinking about that!" he groaned, shaking his head. "This is like something you'd see on TV! Fiction! It's not real, right? That thing can't _really be _a demon... right?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe. Anyway, you were looking for Saki? Did you come here together?"

Yosuke looked at me blankly. "Nothing ever phases you, does it?" he muttered, frowning. "Yeah, we were together earlier, but we got separated. Actually... " he hesitated, "Now that I think about it... I don't really remember how we got here too well. I... think I was helping her family with their stocking, and then... I got here somehow? That doesn't make any sense," he said, holding his face and sighing. "How did _you_ get here anyway?"

"I fell into my TV."

"...Wait, seriously?" Yosuke stared at me briefly. "I thought you were joking about that. Is that... even possible, though?"

"Well, yes it's possible. It happened. Something strange had been happening even before that, though- the television turned on without any electrical power."

"While it was turned off? What do you... oh, wait, is this like that Midnight Channel?"

I blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"The Midnight Channel, you know right? Everyone in Inaba's gotta know by now. That thing where when you stare into a turned-off TV on a rainy night at midnight, you see your soulmate?"

"I'm reasonably certain neither you nor that monster are my soulmate."

Yosuke took a moment with that one.

"...Well, there's another rejection," he said, with a hint of a smile. "I'm really racking them up today. But fair enough; sorry, that was just a stupid rumor a friend told me earlier. Must've just gotten stuck in my head. ...But seriously? You fell into a television?"

I sighed. This obviously wasn't going anywhere.

"Let's switch gears. We both got in here; the how doesn't matter right now. That means there's likely an exit around here somewhere; it's just a matter of finding it."

"Hey yeah, you're right," Yosuke said, though his grin tipped downward almost immediately. "...And all we have to do is avoid being eaten by creepy demons while we're at it," he muttered.

"Correct."

"...You're an odd girl, you know that?"

"I am? How so? Could you describe it?" I said without pausing. Was I doing something wrong? Social interaction couldn't be too difficult, but my spotty recollection could be making things problematic. Both Kazuhiko and Saki had negative reactions to certain extents, but I'd imagined that was just a necessary element of the information gathering process at the time; if it was a more endemic problem, I'd rather address it sooner rather than later.

"Uh, well it's not... hey, what's with that look?" he said, looking briefly conflicted. "Ah, you know what, never mind, forget I said it. Geez, this place must be getting to me," he muttered, looking up into the yellow mists.

"...Very well?" I said, now confused."In that case... our plan, then. Yosuke, you said you were looking for Konishi-san? Did you suspect she was in here too?"

"Yeah, we ended up here together, I think about the same time," Yosuke said. "But we got separated around that creepy shrine- and then that _thing _found me."

"Shrine?"

"It looked like the one in the shopping district, just, you know, creepier. Saki seemed pretty interested in it..." he trailed off briefly, then looked at me directly. I still couldn't see his face, but his voice was heavy. "Hey... you don't think she's still there, do you? It's really the only thing we found, so maybe..."

"Could you find your way back to it?" I asked. I couldn't even tell which direction I'd come from.

"Maybe if we retraced my path here? Oh... but we'd probably have to pass by that monster's territory again," he said with a groan.

"Our other options are to stay here indefinitely, or walk into the unknown on the off chance we'll find Konishi-san. Which would you prefer?" I asked.

"Point taken. Let's go," Yosuke said, shaking his head and chucking a little to himself. "You know, not long ago I was complaining Inaba was boring. Goes to show me, right?" he said dryly.

I prodded him into moving. For some reason, despite his desire to save that girl, he was still loathe to walk back into the fog.

I wondered why.

**.**

* * *

Yosuke Hanamura was not having a good day.

After crashing his piece of crap bike for the second day in a row, he'd arrived at school only to be greeted by an irate Chie Satonaka. He didn't even know how she figured out he broke that DVD, but apparently he was right not to tell her immediately- her vengeance was swift, and...

He crossed his legs a little and tried not to think about it.

Even that would have been bearable, if his other female friend hadn't looked exactly like you'd expect someone who discovered a corpse to look like. Yosuke kept up on the news media as much as anyone else, but he'd at least had the tact not to bring it up around her, and she appreciated that.

It was just, you know, hard to tell at times. But that was just how Saki-sempai was, right?

"Yosuke. Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Stop worrying, I've got it. Well, more or less, probably," he muttered back to the strange grey-haired girl pacing behind him. She kind of gave him the creeps, to be honest- aside from all the weird things that happened since she'd shown up, she was just kind of off in her general mannerisms. Cute, though.

Then again, Saki wasn't much different. Sure, she acted normal enough around her friends and the other co-workers, but there was an eccentric side under that too; though, normally it only came out when she was making fun of him.

She made fun of him a lot.

Yosuke remembered the way back to that shrine, in general at least. It was a pretty big structure from what he recalled, so they'd probably be able to see the outline even in fog like this- or at least, he'd be able to. Azumi probably couldn't see that far, apparently.

He couldn't see very far himself, but still, some part of him figured that, as a man, he should probably look out for the half-blind girl when in a life-threatening situation. Not that he could do much about any giant monsters, mind, but...

"The fog seems to be lightening some," Azumi noted as she observed their surroundings like a fumigator might observe a house; there were a few dark shapes visible now, rough impressions of some sort of architecture, even if it was too opaque still to see specific details.

"Maybe this is just a lighter area," Yosuke suggested "It happens sometimes in Inaba, when the elevation's different, or stuff like that."

Though, how that applied to this freaky yellow fog was anyone's guess. Azumi's facial expression didn't change often, but from the corner of his eye he thought he saw her brow crease a little.

"We should probably move faster. I would prefer to leave before the fog disappears," she said even more carefully, almost guarded.

"Well...yeah," he said, equally carefully. Why did he always feel like he was walking on eggshells around her? That gaze was just too intense for normal conversation, it creeped him out.

"And that would be bad because...?" he really didn't want to sound like an idiot, but it was difficult when she said things like that out of nowhere, like she knew something he didn't.

"That monster couldn't see through the fog. It might be able to find us if we lose that advantage," she said immediately before stumbling on an outcropping of debris; Yosuke stifled a chuckle. Probably wasn't nice to laugh at people with glasses, though he had to admit the look was growing on him.

"Yeah, well... I'll think of something then," he said, trying to sound casual. Really, though, what could they do about that? They didn't have many options open to them at the moment.

Once they found Saki-sempai, they really didn't have a plan. Maybe it would just end then? Like waking up from a bad dream? Part of him suspected he'd just come to in the Junes mattress section after having conked out the late-night shift again. A world like this was just too bizarre to exist.

It just couldn't.

"Are you alright, Yosuke?" Azumi asked from behind. Yosuke noticed he'd suddenly stopped, and shook his head to clear it.

"Yeah... never better. This way," he muttered before continuing on the path.

Azumi followed, but it probably didn't matter; unlike Inaba, where there were streets and stores and the like to use as landmarks, here they only had fog and bizarre architecture to go on. He knew the general direction they were heading in, but at this rate they'd just stumble into another-

he stopped abruptly.

Azumi almost walked into him, then folded her arms, her brows twitching again.

"Why did you stop?"

"This place...it's..." he started, before swallowing.

"It's... Inaba."

That shape was the mailbox- he walked by it all the time on the way to work. This entire street- it wasn't far from the shopping district, just a little closer to the Junes arcade so there were fewer stores still open. A lot of seniors who liked to scowl at him tended to gather around here.

But today there wasn't anyone milling around; the lane was as dead as the stagnant yellow fog hanging in the air. Everything was dark and rendered in shadow, a mere shade of the original- but it was still absolutely, undeniably, impossibly- Inaba.

"No way," he breathed, looking around for something that would say otherwise. "This is... how can you copy an entire street?"

"It's the same as the other world?"

"Its... like, completely exact. Like, completely- wow, I think even the fliers on that wall are identical..." he shook his head, tentatively touching the brick wall. Somehow, seeing something that he knew was real, feeling the coarse grain of the brick. finding something familiar, here- it was unsettling. It was more than unsettling.

"Then..." Azumi frowned. "It's like a reflection? A copy?"

"I guess it would... have to be," he paused. "Either that, or this... is Inaba, somehow."

Well that was sobering. He resisted a shiver; how did this place manage to get creepier every minute?

Hey, wait a second...

"Hey wait... if this is Inaba, then that means Saki-sempai might've-" he cut off suddenly, before turning and tearing down the street. Yes, it wouldn't be much farther from here, would it? He came down this path almost every day, on his way home from work. It had to be here, didn't it?

If the Konishi's house was here, wouldn't that be the best place to look for her? Her home- that's where'd they'd been before, right? In the real Inaba before they disappeared?

This world was like a dream, but... Saki was lost, somewhere in this fog-ridden town in the middle of nowhere, and he was going to save her before she got eaten by that thing, wherever it was. Whatever it was. Even in fiction, Yosuke wasn't about to let Saki Konishi get hurt any more than she already had been.

He turned the corner; the rest of the town, rendered in dark shapes and yellow fog, opened up to him just as he suspected. He was such an idiot- how could he not recognize it was Inaba they were running around in all this time? True, he'd never given the town much thought before this, but he still lived there and walked through the Shopping District almost every night, even if it was covered in fog.

"It should be just... around... here?" Yosuke said, slowly dropping off as he came to the heart of the district.

At the outset they they'd been looking for a large shrine, possibly a small temple.

A couple of small footsteps behind him gave away Azumi's presence.

"Oh, you found it. Good," she said, nodding a little. "Please give me more warning the next time you intend to run. It's difficult to follow with my limited eyesight."

"...Yeah... right," he muttered, not taking his eyes off the temple walls, which extended high into the sky.

Konishi Liquors was gone. So was most of the street, as it was apparently used up for the construction of a huge, immaculate sanctuary, reaching high into the sky. Pillars of bamboo surrounded it like a cage, the solid bud tips making each look like a spear planted in the ground- the grand Tori alone was at least five stories tall, with a pair of gargantuan matching doors colored in undulating red and black.

"What the hell is this?" Yosuke breathed. "This... isn't Saki's house."

"It appears to be a shrine," Azumi said.

Gee, helpful.

"Yeah, no kidding. I mean... why is it here? Who would do something like this?"

Azumi shrugged. "The laws of this world are rather unclear. Perhaps this is the temple you and Konishi entered earlier- does it seem familiar?"

"Not even slightly," Yosuke muttered. "That was... well, it was smaller. Like, the size of the one back in Inaba, not this... thing!" he gestured furiously, then sighed. "Whatever! Saki's in this thing, probably. We've got to find her," he said, making his way to the entrance. He wasn't scared, per say -part of him still refused to admit anything about this was real enough to fear- but he also was even less sure than usual about what was going to happen.

There was a loud sound, like the creaking of a massive wheel, as the doors slowly swung outward. The inside of the grounds was all darkness- darkness interspersed with reds, like the doors themselves, as if it marking the gateway to something even less attached to reality as the outside.

A shiver went down his spine, and to his annoyance , Azumi didn't say anything. Not a word of caution or rebuke or anger at having been left behind, just... nothing. They were heading into certain danger because Saki-sempai might be in danger, and she couldn't think of even a single word to say about it.

"Weirdo," he said under his breath as they entered the dark void.

* * *

**.**

**4/13**

**Inner Temple of Spirits**

**.**

* * *

The interior of the temple wasn't any less esoteric than the outside; seeded across the grounds like trees was a multitude of sake bottles, piled every which way and stacked together in diabolical snakes like a bizarre offering. It was open to the sky, black and red though it was, but the hanging fog was even thinner than outside- hopefully enough for Azumi to stop tripping over her own feet, at any rate.

There was a sanctum in the center of the grounds , a wood-carved building with significantly more ornamentation than the fixtures surrounding it. A large pair of shishi-odoshi stood doinking away in front of two huge offerings of rice, a pair of white heaps oddly in character with the rest of the surroundings- and, laying between the offerings, beneath the statue of the monstrous fox at the heart of the sanctum, was-

"Sempai!" Yosuke yelled, running to her side. The girl moved a little at his voice, but could only blearily gaze outward.

"Y-yosuke?" she croaked, eyes glazed and unfocused. She groaned as she tried to move.

"Hey, take it easy, Saki-sempai. We're going to get you out of here, don't worry," he said, unable to conceal his smile. Now, all they needed to do was find a way out-

"Yosuke..." she whispered harshly, shaking her head.

"Azumi, a little help here!" he called out. What was taking her so long? Couldn't she see that sempai needed hel-

"Yosuke, get down!"

Yosuke hesitated for just a half second before he was thrown by a massive force, and slammed into a pile of sake bottles with a loud crash; too shocked to make any sense of the pain, he couldn't react as the bottles buried him as if it were a rainstorm of stones.

_"What a dip. You're pathetic,"_ said Saki Konishi.

"...I...I..." Yosuke gasped between shuddering breaths, still in shock. He couldn't see from his position- but he could hear, he could definitely hear.

_"But you already knew that, right? Nah, the sad thing is... you thought that I actually liked you regardless, didn't you? But it doesn't work like that, does it?"_

"...Why... are you saying that?"

Yosuke couldn't speak, but he'd have said that too if he could. This was... Saki did think of him as a friend, right? At least that?

_"Hey, I'm just telling the truth, aren't I? I seduced Hana-chan because I wanted special treatment at work. It was annoying as hell when he got clingy- ha, why are you looking so surprised? That's just how the world works."_

"I... It wasn't special treatment, I... just..."

She was... in pain, right? When he saw her just lying there on the ground, he'd ran up without thinking. He... just wanted to help her, right? That was natural? That was just being human though, anyone would do it. Everyone wanted the excitement of being the hero. He just...

_ "But hey, everyone just works for their own selfish desires, right? Anyone who claims to do anything from the kindness of their heart is scum. A loving sister? Model student? Ha, it's all just bullshit you made up so people wouldn't hate you! You have to be surrounded with liars like you. Doesn't it make your heart race to know everyone else is a hypocrite too?!"_

"..."

_"Because that's why it's okay to lie- or to steal- or to hurt. Even to kill. When you looked at the corpse of that announcer... I know what you really thought."_

"...Shut up. Just shut up. You... you don't know anything,"

_"When you looked at that body... you didn't feel a thing. Not a single shred of pity for a human life cut down in its prime. And why? Because you're a monster. Just like me."_

"You... you can't... you're a demon... aren't you?"

_ "Yep, of the worst variety. And yet at the same time, Saki Konishi, I am you- I'm the monster that hides behind your pretty mask. Deep down, you know you're me."_

Saki was in danger. Yosuke pushed himself, strained his entire body- and yet, despite his all effort, he couldn't budge a single bottle of sake. Stupid, stupid- how could he fail now? He had to get up, he was the only one who could save her, the only one- it was up to him, him, he was the only hero here, only he-

**"I-I'm not you!"**

**.**

* * *

The fox-faced Saki burned with dark smoke, cackling in demonic glee.

_"Say it again!"_ it demanded, _"Deny me again you hypocritical bitch! You don't really think you're any better than me, do you?!"_

the real Konishi was kneeling on the ground, red-faced and gnashing her teeth. She didn't look to where Yosuke had been tossed, and I don't think she even realized I was there yet- as far as she knew, this confrontation was entirely personal. Somehow, that stopped me from stepping in for the moment. As bizarre as it was, I felt almost guilty for listening to it.

Saki took a shaking breath and rallied herself.

"Shut up, you faceless demon! I don't know you, and **I'm not you**! Monsters like you should just DIE!" she screamed, face fierce and eyes hard. The other her merely observed and chuckled darkly.

_"Well put,"_ it said conversationally, cocking its head slightly. _"So I'll go right ahead and do just that. Ahahaha __**haha HAHA**__**HAHAHA HAAAA**__!"_

The dark smoke swallowed it like a cocoon, caressing it as it warped and expanded. Though the beast had been big before, it was even larger now- a proudly monstrous fox, standing tall as master, the tutelary kami of the shrine.

A thick mask covered the face of the fox that peered out through the sanctum of the temple, nine great tails of bamboo rising upwards from behind the structure glaring at Saki with nine different grotesque faces carved individually into each. Both bales of rice caught on fire immediately, and the shishi-odoshi paused in their cycles conspicuously.

_"I will kill you now, Saki Konishi, because you are a monster who does not deserve to live,"_ said the demon to the girl.

"I... I..." Saki said, the blood draining from her face. She fell to her knees again. "I can't..." she said, her entire body shaking.

By that point, however, I was standing between her and the monster.

_"You're going to try to protect that monster? How stupid,"_ the faceless fox chided. _"Don't you know there's no benefit in helping someone that weak?"_

"...You..." came a soft whisper from behind me. "You're that girl from... the police station. I... why?"

"...Because I still have questions for you, Konishi-san," I responded. "I can't allow you to die before I get my answers."

The heat of the rice-flames rose even higher, almost scalding my skin even from this distance. Clouds of angry dark smoke began gathering above, as if the very heavens themselves were under sway of the masked god, which stared down at me impassively.

_"Fine, if your greed drives your sick existence, I'll finish you as well! Die!" _

The heavens cracked, releasing the light of divinity. A lance of electricity crackled through the sky, breaking the bonds of air molecules as it passed -an attack of that magnitude was beyond mortal endurance- any human would have been killed instantly. It was the attack of a god, after all.

And yet...

_**I Am Thou**_

The lightning shattered like glass, dispersed by the great white mantle above me until it was just a slight tingling sensation. Above me was a mantel of white, a being of cloth and -oddly enough- chain, hovering about me like a protective phantasm.

It should have been shocking, and yet- it wasn't. There was just a warm feeling, like something that had been lost for a long time had suddenly returning- a nostalgic feeling. This being, swathed in white- it was a part of me. It _was _me.

My Persona.

_**And Thou Art I**_

"Izanami."

.

* * *

.

.

.

_**Persona Compendium**_

**IZANAMI - MOTHER OF THE WORLD'S DELUSION**

_**The Fool**_

_Nullifies:_ Darkness

_Resists:_ Electricity

_Weaknesses:_ Fire, Light

One of the chief creation deities in Shinto mythology, who gave birth to innumerable kami and the isles of Japan; she was the first being to possess a female form, and is credited as the mortal world's mother. She was shaped alongside her brother, Izanagi, by the star gods of Takamagahara in order to create the earthly plane beneath heaven.

She was a willful wife, and there are multiple stories concerning her power struggles with her brother and husband. Ultimately, Izanami died in the process of giving birth to the god of fire, and descended to Yomi where she partook of the food of the dead and discarded her divinity.

Now, her children are the maggots and eight thunder deities which live in her corpse.

.

_Azumi's Izanagi is a figure in white robes, encircled with chains representing the repression of identity. White is a color of purity, divinity and mourning, used to honor the fallen goddess- there is no part of the lost being which can be seen uncovered, because her funeral robe has become her body itself, it being more acceptable than the rot-infested thing Izanami has become. Her weapon is the longspear used to stir the oceans of creation- the blade represents a bud forever frozen in mid-bloom, an offering to the creation deity who can no longer see the flowers of the living world. It is her destiny to represent the bitterness of separation. _

_Traditionally, the Fool Arcana is the zeroth mystery because it depicts the time of naiveté prior to one's journey, a state of emptiness and potential waiting to be fulfilled. However, the Fool holds a secondary identity as the twenty-second card in the cycle; a return to loss and ignorance that predicates the beginning of a new cycle, or rather, a willful rejection of the current world in favor of a new one. It is fitting in this tradition that Azumi's Izanami therefore belongs to the Fool Arcana, despite her lack of the Wild Card trait._

_Izanami would also be suitable for the Death Arcana due to her status as a goddess of the underworld, as well as the Tower Arcana due to her sudden tragic fate. An interpretation of Izanami prior to her fall would also be acceptable as a member of the High Priestess or Empress Arcana, due to her roots as a pastoral and guardian deity. _

_Izanami specializes in Mudo and debuffing skills, and also has the basic abilities of a Sensor-type persona, allowing her to spy on the strengths and weaknesses of both allies and the opposition. She is too fragile for front-line combat in general situations, but has use in providing support for stronger and more durable allies, or in providing targeted strikes against enemies weak to dark attacks._


	7. 4-14 - Inner Temple of the Spirits

**.**

**4/14**

**Inner Temple of the Spirits**

**.**

* * *

The masked fox hissed at me, but I could see it was wary now.

In fact, with Izanami active, I could see a lot of things. Beyond my suddenly clear normal vision, I could somehow sense the layout of the surrounding area- and, almost without even trying, the general attributes of the opponent I faced. I couldn't identify any overly specific elements, but the monster's general health, the flow of their power, even slight hint of their intentions that bled out into the air- to a limited degree, I could peer into their mind.

Curiously, I found that less concerning than the sudden loss of my glasses, which had seemingly vanished in the confusion as I'd summoned my persona.

_"I'll tear off any mask you put before me!"_ the monster snarled, pounding its claws against the wooden floor of its shrine. The land itself seemed to react almost immediately, bottles of Sake leaping from their heaps to fly directly at myself -and, I noted quickly, the prone body of Saki Konishi. _"Especially __**that**__ one."_

I gripped my hand and Izanami formed around both of us to block the seemingly endless hail of pottery. It worked, though only just- every projectile that hit Izanami's garb was a pinprick to my skull. My body reacted sympathetically as the apparition was battered, and by the time the barrage ended I was panting and swaying on my feet. Izanami's form fizzled away, looking nearly as worn as I felt.

"_Ha, you're even more pathetic than I thought_," the monster fox said, cackling. "_I'll kill you first, before finishing off that pathetic boy you pretended to help earlier. And why shouldn't I? I don't need a reason to have fun, after all._"

It was gloating- I could be thankful for that. Even with my persona, I could tell I was heavily outmatched- the fox drew power from the surrounding shrine, encasing itself in a shell that rejected outside interference. Izanami unfortunately wasn't strong enough to break through that guard directly, but-

"...Azumi," Yosuke coughed from the side. The jars he'd been buried behind had been left broken by the fox's furious action, so it seems he'd managed to pull himself forward a few feet- though just barely. His face was dark purple with bruises and he favored his right side in such a way I suspected a rib or two was broken- frankly, it was amazing he was still conscious.

"...Heh, don't worry A...Azumi... I'll save you and Sempai. Just... give me... a-" he muttered, failing to get to his feet. I tracked him carefully; I didn't doubt that my enemy would target him if it suited their whim.

"Just rest for now, Yosuke," I said without taking my eye off of the fox. I summoned Izanami once again, who brandished a long spear, like the stigmata of a bloomed flower, at my foe. I wasn't strong enough to match an opponent like this, not directly anyway- but even a disgraced goddess had a trick or two up her sleeves.

When one separates themselves completely from the realm of mortals, it becomes the duty of the gods to give them their rebuke. A demon posing as a god, hiding in a holy place like a snake coiled into a clay pot: hypocrisy. This nature of this beast was hypocrisy.

There was only one fate left to those who commit the sin of hypocrisy.

The fox's tails stood up straighter as if to intimidate me, and the water feeding the shishi-odoshi reared up upon itself to attack; Izanami closed in the distance and spun her weapon like a shield, dispersing the water even as it turned to solid ice and tossing it off in the direction opposite to Yosuke. I could feel the tainted fire burning in Izanami's veins, the nature of the magic that coursed through my persona's soul- the desire to remove, to obfuscate, to hide and ignore.

I cast a spell made of lies.

"Mudo," I said, and Izanami's weapon burned with black fire.

A dark seal formed beneath the death goddess briefly as she tossed her spear at the inner shrine; It stuck the shingles of the roof and exploded into a multitude of daemonic runes, summoning forth an identical circle beneath the entire structure and the fox trapped within it- a circle which was rapidly turned into a pit.

The dark hands of the underworld clawed at the fox queen from the hell's gate, dragging the entire structure into the depths of oblivion.

_"What? I won't tolerate this! No, stop!"_ it cried, unable to free itself again. The nine tailed fox struggled, for a moment, to keep the hole wide enough to escape from by catching the lip of the hole with each of its tails- but it was useless. With no way of moving outside of its assigned structure, the fox was caught in the trap. The hole closed as each tail snapped away in turn, and with a final scream, the evil kami was silenced.

Izanami dissolved almost as quickly, and I let loose a sigh of relief before falling to my knees. Despite my swimming head, I felt a sudden pinch on my nose and touched my face in reaction, briefly.

"My glasses?" I said, tapping the rims that had suddenly appeared from nowhere. They reappeared as I dismissed my persona, then.

Intriguing.

"Is... is it gone?" asked a blurry figure, stumbling towards me from the edge of the courtyard. I stood up again and squinted when I realized my eyesight was back to being terrible.

On a hunch, I tried taking off my glasses, and that hazy outline turned into Yosuke Hanamura. Apparently, my prescriptions were reversed on this side of the television screen. That would have been useful to know earlier. I slipped my spectacles into a pocket.

"As far as I can tell," I said, taking a look around. The shrine was a mess; aside from the smouldering piles of rice and broken sanctum, it was a veritable garden of shattered pottery now. I kicked a chunk of ice out of the way and resisted the reactionary shiver running down my spine.

"...We should leave this place quickly. It still feels alive," I muttered. Without Izanami summoned I couldn't detect the nature of the area any longer, but somehow it was intrinsically linked with the monster I banished. That I could tell even without the aid of supernatural abilities, and it couldn't mean anything good.

Saki Konishi's body was still unconscious; apparently banishing the demon with her image hadn't prompted that much of a change. Rather than wait until she stirred again, I hoisted her limp form onto my back- Yosuke protested me carrying her, but it was obvious he was barely in a position to walk unaided himself.

"Are you sure you're fine, Yosuke?" I asked. He more shambled than walked, really, and he still held one of his sides when moving. We didn't have time to have him checked out more thoroughly, but I still suspected he had at least a couple fractures in his torso.

"Yeah, just peachy," he groused back, but he attempted a small smile. It came out as a grimace due to his facial bruises, but the effort was still noted.

He was limping but still moving, so I didn't protest further. It would have been impractical for me to carry two people anyway; my body wasn't particularly strong even if I could see through the fog again. It was fortunate that Saki Konishi was exceptionally light- almost distressingly so, given her height. Had she been eating properly?

We left the broken temple behind us for the foggy streets of the false Inaba, but that uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach didn't fade, even as the bamboo gates of the false gods' shrine disappeared into the depths of the fog behind us. Somehow, not being able to see it only made it worse- like a lingering predator, waiting just out of sight.

I resisted another chill down my spine.

* * *

**.**

**4/14**

**Pseudo Inaba**

**.**

* * *

For a while we just walked around Inaba's empty streets, without much of a goal in mind. After retrieving Saki Konishi, we were left with no duties but to find an exit, and neither of us had any clue what such a thing might look like to begin with. This was concerning because the fog was considerably lighter than even just a couple of hours ago- and I was starting to hear subtle sounds, almost like the rustling of wild animals, behind every corner and blind alley.

"Well... you said you came in through a television, right?" Yosuke said after the third time passing a particular street. "Maybe... we just need to find a TV on this side too, and we can go back?" he hazarded.

It was better than anything I could think of, so we decided to head off towards this world's interpretation of Junes- the clearest source of televisions in the area. There were probably televisions elsewhere closer, but generally speaking those were behind closed doors- and, the shrine excepted, every door we'd found until now had been locked fast. As Junes was a public building, we figured that if any place was going to be open, it'd be there.

The walk wasn't particularly long, but both of us were exceptionally tired even discounting Yosuke's injuries and my human ballast; what would have been a leisurely ten-minute stroll ended up taking almost half an hour, with Yosuke heaving heavy breaths the entire way. The boy's eyes were beady and unfocused- I wondered precisely how much pain he was in, exactly.

"...Hey, Azumi. What was that back there?" he asked eventually, looking towards me briefly. "You summoned that thing to fight that monster. Was that- I mean, are you human? Ah, wait wait wait, I didn't mean that," he backpedaled quickly, "I just... I... 'persona'? How did you do it?"

Surprising; Yosuke hadn't questioned it earlier. Had he been worrying about how to ask that the entire trip, I wondered? Or did his mind just now catch with the events which had transpired in front of him. Either was possible- but perhaps more likely, the stress of the day had just gotten him babbling again. I decided not to read too much into it.

"I don't know," I said with a shrug. It might have something to do with my hidden memories, come to think of it, but I couldn't quantify that into something Yosuke would understand easily. "It's my persona, a portion of myself somehow manifest into separate form... I believe it might be born from my identity somehow... though I wouldn't have a clue as to the nature of the trigger," I mused.

My persona took the form of the ancient Japanese deity of birth and death. I couldn't recall reading any legend like that, and yet somehow I felt could recall the entire story easily; the nature of my memory was continually... puzzling.

"Ah... do you think I could do it?"

"Possibly."

We continued our walk in silence from that point. Eventually, Saki's head began to stir next to my shoulder, though it wasn't until we'd made it to the shadowed food court that she started to regain consciousness. As Yosuke and I were both about to collapse, we decided to take a small breather while we got Saki up to speed.

I set her down on a bench and took a deep breath before taking a seat myself. Saki Konishi was slightly taller than I, and similar in weight; carrying her around town hadn't been pleasant, especially with the shortness of breath inhaling the fog seemed to cause. Increasingly, I was seeing that this world was not only dangerous, but outright hostile to human beings.

"I... where are we?" Saki asked, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes and shaking her head. "I don't... what's going on here?"

Yosuke cut me off before I could answer.

"We don't know either, Saki-sempai. But stay calm, we're out of danger for now, I promise," he said with a smile. Yosuke was always smiling around Saki, it appeared- even when he was swaying on his feet. What drove that devotion? Was it merely sexual attraction? It was getting to the point where I couldn't tell whether Yosuke was the strange one, or I was for failing to understand it.

"...It, there was this monster," Saki continued, almost rambling. Her gaze darted around before circling in on Yosuke's face, and then noticeably hardened. "It... went after _you_," she said slowly.

"Er, yeah. But that's over with, now. It's dead. We killed it and we can get out of here now, Saki-sempai," Yosuke said quickly, almost feverishly, but Saki still shook her head.

"It went after you because you're a hypocrite," she said with icy clarity. "You couldn't even do a single thing right, could you? _Nooo, Hana-chan_ has to be a hero and try to save the damsel in distress- _that's_ what you were really thinking, _wasn't it_?"

"I... but, Sempai," Yosuke looked like he'd been physically struck; I stood up from the bench.

"Don't give me that 'Sempai' crap either," she said, almost growling. "I hate it, and I hate _you _for it. Because of you and, and," she paused for a moment as she identified around where she was seated, and shook her head, almost growling. "This _stupid_ store, everyone hates me. I've been working my ass off for all of them, and they _still_ hate me- how _fair_ does that sound, _Hana-chan_?"

"I... I..." Yosuke said, gaping helplessly as a boiled frog. This was bad; storm clouds were brewing, somehow, in this bizarre sky. Not merely literally, either.

"Yeah, _you. _This is all your fault, isn't it?! If I hadn't been going to work that day, it... _this_... wouldn't have happened! I hate you! I hate _everyone," _she snarled. A crack of lightning flashed through the sky, and suddenly it was raining.

Black and red rain.

I bit my lip.

"We need to go. _Now,_" I demanded, grabbing Yosuke's wrist. He didn't notice and stood there like a dumb brick.

"I... Saki-sempai..." he muttered like a broken machine. Saki was staring at him, shoulders quivering -from rage? Frustration? It was difficult to tell, and the rain masked things almost as well as the fog could.

But the fog was gone now. Completely. And I was pretty certain that was a very bad thing.

"_Are you going to run now, Hana-chan? Ha, you're even more pathetic than I thought you were. Guess I couldn't even trust you to die right," _said Saki Konishi, but unfortunately, not the one sitting next to us.

"_Yosuke. _We need to get out of here," I said, literally pulling him forward at this point. I glanced behind us, and a familiar silhouette broke the path of the rain in the distance. A monstrous silhouette.

So the fox wouldn't be that easily taken out, then.

Suddenly the real Saki collapsed into Yosuke arms, which shocked him enough to start moving. Somehow, he kept his balance; we managed to sprint past the automatic doors of Junes just as I heard a low clawing, scratching sound- like the movement of a thousand nails drawn across the pavement.

If I hadn't experienced horror before, that moment was my introduction.

Somehow, the doors seemed to keep them outside somehow, for now anyway. But we were far from safe, and the lack of any enemies I could physically see only heightened my paranoia. When the glass front doors went black, as if covered by a large tarp, I refused to look back.

"Keep moving," I demanded, and Yosuke nodded numbly, holding Saki bridal style- which looked terribly awkward given her unconscious state. Yosuke himself looked so beat and weathered to that point that I imagined he was only able to hold her due to adrenalin anyway.

Junes was bigger than I had imagined. It was less a store, and more a miniature Shopping District in practical function; if the stakes hadn't been dire, my curiosity would have been piqued. Compared to the other massive structure, this one didn't appear to be exaggerated- the inner structures were elaborate, but human enough in design. I wished I could take solace in that fact, but as it was, I could only lament how far it was from here to the electronics section.

"This way," Yosuke said without tone, breaking through a line of clothing displays. It wasn't what the sign said, but I followed him nevertheless. We passed by a set of mirrors, hopped over a service desk, and eventually ran up an escalator that was moving in the opposite direction, scarcely stopping even to look where we were moving; once again, I couldn't help but be impressed by Yosuke's tenacity and dexterity in the face of extreme exhaustion and injury, as he didn't stumble even once. Perhaps being in familiar territory gave him more strength. Or maybe, once again, it was the girl in his arms.

Nevertheless, I was still struck by how empty everything felt, as I moved through its place. I'd never been to Junes, but even as an outsider rushing through to avoid some unseen enemy, I could tell it was but a degraded husk without the people that inhabited it. If this world was supposed to be a perfect recreation of the true Inaba, what happened to the people that made up that world's reality? Why weren't they imitated? Why was this world lifeless?

Well, except it wasn't; a pit formed in my throat when I remembered the dark, crawling things and the tiny pair of doors that separated them from us. Questions, questions, questions. I always had questions. Perhaps it was time to focus on something else for the moment.

A loud crash echoed through the entire building halfway through our commute to the electronics section- it was poor luck that the building organizer placed that particular category in the very back, behind a plethora of obstacles. I decided to pay it no heed- even if something had managed to break in, there wasn't anything we could do about it, so we just kept running; it wasn't so much a chase as it was a race, with an unknown goal time in mind.

By the end, when we finally passed the flag boarder marking the tech section, I was suspecting the shadow of every object in my way to leap up and attack me. I pointedly took a deep breath to calm myself; Yosuke seemed perfectly rational by contrast, if a bit unblinking in his current disposition. Why was I losing my composure?

I regained it, nevertheless, and we managed to make our way in without further incident. Still, the crawling sounds were behind us- and loader, punctuated every so often by a dull, otherworldly moan. Neither of us appeared to react- if we froze up now, I had no doubt we'd be dead in seconds.

"We're here," Yosuke said dully, walking up to one of the widescreens and punching his hand towards it; it made contact with a dull thud.

"Tch. Figures," he whispered with more venom than I'd heard from him all day. "This was pointless. We're going to die here, and there's nothing we can do about it," he said, hitting his head against the wall.

"No. There has to be a way back," I said confidently. "We can't be trapped here."

"How the hell do you know that? I'm real sick of this mysterious outsider bullshit you've been trying to pull here, how the hell do you do you know _any _of this anyway?!" he growled, without actually facing me. He stared blankly forward instead; his dark expression told me we didn't have much time left- before he cracked, that is, not until we were captured by our enemies.

"...I'm not trying to 'pull' anything," I muttered back, frowning slightly. "I know as little as you do. I'm merely trying to gather as much information as possible," I said, shaking my head. "And I know there has to be a path here."

"Oh yeah, and why's that?"

"Because I came here to save you," I said, pushing past him. "And that desire was granted. So in order for that to be possible, this can't be a hopeless trap."

Yosuke scoffed, but I reached out for the TV screen.

_"Wherever you may go, may you never tarry for lack of a path. If there be none for you to wander, than I shall form one for you."_

A memory, bubbling just beneath the surface.

I reached into the television. Behind me, a mass of darkness and masks and claws reached out to grab and to snatch and to tear and kill and-

"Yosuke!" I yelled, reaching out my hand.

He stared right into the darkness, into the writhing chaos of masks. And for a moment, Yosuke hesitated- but then, with a quick glance at Saki in his arms, he stepped towards me and held out his hand- and together, the three of us fell into the television monitor.

Dark hands tried to grab as us, but we were lifted into a safe tunnel of undulating white and black. Their claws couldn't reach; their world ended at the screen, at the hard glass divide. The sounds of the masks, like the wailing of insects, burned itself into my memory even as we were lifted higher and higher out of the fogless city- into the lights of reality.

* * *

**.**

**4/14**

**Inaba**

**.**

* * *

Rain.

I felt rain.

Sounds. Chirping birds- the kind that woke at sunrise. Morning.

Tired. I was so tired. I couldn't remember why, either. That was fine. I forgot things often.

I didn't want to open my eyes.

But then it hit me.

"Yosuke," I muttered, turning around and forcing myself to get up; I couldn't very well trust him to take care of things. My body felt heavy and protested as I tried to move it, but the fact of the matter was I had no idea where I was resting currently. After I opened my leaden eyelids, I still didn't know- so I put on my glasses.

I had a nice view of Inaba. Suburban roofs surrounded me, their subtly different tiling forming a pleasant mosaic against the green of the central flood plain. Poking from the tops was a large brown building only a few blocks away, possibly Yasogami High from what I remembered of the area.

Wait, I could see rooftops. Logically following, I had to be...

I tried to stand up and lost my footing immediately, slipping down onto the barely slanted set of matte tiles beneath me. I thrashed out and managed to grap a piece of cold, wet metal with my hand to steady myself- part of an exterior television antenna, from the looks of it.

As I suspected, I was on top of a building somehow. The question of how was pertinent, but maybe not at this exact moment.

"Is that a dead body?!"

Wait, if I was up here that probably meant that-

"That's the killer! Quick, Yukiko call the police, it's-"

Yes, Yosuke and Saki were up here too, considerably less conscious. This would be essentially impossible to explain, especially since a pair of students had already noticed me standing over them.

Problematic.

"Hey, get back here! There's the killer running off!" yelled the -rather loud- witness as I hastily tried to evacuate myself from the 'crime scene'. My relationship with Dojima was strained enough as it was, I felt it was better not to add a situation like this to the mess.

Luckily, the house I ended up on had a balcony. I managed to climb down onto it, jumped into the nearby garden, and from there ran into the neighbouring yard before I darting out into the street itself; all in all, I thought I made pretty good time, especially with how stiff my body still felt. Unfortunately, it seemed my pursuer anticipated me- or just had a lucky guess.

"Freeze!" shouted the girl, a short-haired individual holding a folded umbrella like a weapon and glaring with fierce eyes; the bright green of her sweater drew my attention for a second, even as I was looking for a way to escape. I hesitated for half a second, and she took the opportunity to launch a picture-perfect spin kick right at my face.

Fortunately, I was still wired from adrenalin and managed to dodge by a hair by slipping sideways into a puddle (soaking my leg in the process). Momentum carried the girl forward, forcing her to take a second to compensate; I used the chance to run, figuring I didn't know enough about physical combat to take her on directly.

Somehow, I felt more vulnerable in this world than the other one.

Despite the time spent wandering the fake Inaba, I still didn't know the streets of this specific suburb very well. So it wasn't a surprise that the girl chasing me, who was more than likely significantly more fit, well rested and familiar with the area, was able to make up for lost time quickly. I snaked the best I could, attempting to leave her behind by taking an unpredictable path, but she was tenacious. Even in the middle of the pouring rain, she was hot on my trail.

Still, she wasn't quite a fox god abomination, so I wasn't scared just yet. If I couldn't outrun her, I still had one option available.

I turned another blind corner and noticed exactly what I'd been looking for- a Yasogami student holding an umbrella. Trying my best to look merely out of breath and not like a desperate maniac, I sprinted up to them.

"Please- could you share your umbrella? I'm- well..." I said, panting and noticing for the first time exactly how soaked I was. My clothing was close enough to their uniform to pass in a pinch- and besides, I was betting on my bedraggled state to override any logical objections another student might have to my story.

"...Sure," said the girl, propping it up a little so I could also get beneath it. She was shorter than I was, but not by much; we could fit fairly easily together. So, at the very least, that part of the story was plausible.

My pursuer escaped bolted from behind the house just seconds later like a green rocket, and continued her sprint. Her teeth were clenched, but her eyes seemed pretty overly focused- which was good, as it meant her tunnel vision had overlooked me for the moment.

"Hello Satonaka-san," my partner said casually and I almost flinched; luckily, the other girl merely blew past us, hunting after that illusive teenage killer she'd found. I let a breath loose I didn't know I was holding.

"She comes to my dad's restaurant a lot, so I see her on occasion," the girl I was walking with now said idly. "She's spirited, but can get pretty worked up about small things. I wouldn't worry about it too much. She calms down almost as quickly."

"I see," I said.

We walked a few more steps in silence. I was composing an excuse to leave so I could work on what to do next -a topic I had a lot of thinking to do on-, but she interrupted my chain of thought before I did.

"Aika Nakamura," she said causally, inclining her head for a second.

It took a second to release what she wanted.

"Azumi Dojima," I said after a moment's thought. She nodded her head a little.

"I thought so. Some weird person was asking people in the shopping district if they'd seen you or Konishi-san. He might have been with the police," she said, tilting her head again. "You might want to see what that's about."

"...Yes, I probably should," I said, making a motion to leave. She stopped me and pushed the umbrella into my hand without hesitation.

"You need it more than I do," she said in the same tone she'd said everything else, then just gave a casual wave of the hand before she started walking in the rain without adjusting her pace. I blinked.

"Strange girl," I muttered before twirling the umbrella and walking the opposite direction.

* * *

**.**

**4/14**

**Shopping District**

**.**

* * *

Adachi wasn't difficult to find. He was having coffee outside a small shop, on a table outside even though there were still seats indoors. Rain bounced loudly off of the umbrella set up over his table, and in the moment before he noticed my presence I was struck by the thought he looked surprisingly lonely, sitting there alone.

It was strange, but it made sense after a moment's thought. Adachi struck me as the type of person who always needs other people, in one way or another. He wasn't the type who could exist in a vacuum.

The moment was broken, of course, as soon as he noticed me approached and grinned up at me with the same grin he always had.

"Hey, Azumi-chan!" he said in surprise, "Wow, we've been looking everywhere for you, I didn't expect- hey, you're completely soaked! Ha, couldn't find that umbrella quickly enough?"

It was the crack of dawn, and I doubted he'd been to the station yet. Adachi wouldn't have spoken with Dojima over the phone because the later had worked late last night.

"They knew I was missing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm fairly sure nobody saw me leave. Nobody checks on me either, until you come to wake me up in the morning."

"Heh, well... I won't say you're wrong, but I will say you shouldn't underestimate us policemen," he winked, "Don't tell anyone, but we have certain ways of knowing where people worth watching are," he said with a goofy grin, almost like I'd caught him in a lie. He expected me to be out, then?

"Detective Adachi, Dojima-san doesn't know about this yet, does he?" I asked. If he did, there was little chance I'd be able to freely explore any longer. For a second, I thought I saw Adachi's gaze linger for a half second longer than usual.

"Well... no, I doubt it," he said with a shrug and a sip of his coffee. "Though he should be arriving any minute, so he will pretty soon."

"Could you keep this a secret from him, please? And the rest of the police if possible?" I asked. Adachi blinked at me and chuckled again, shaking his head.

"Specs-chan, it doesn't work like that. I'm a policeman after all, we need to have clear and honest communication between everyone if we're going to get anything done at all. You know, our motto is 'Get it done today together, and you don't need to do it alone tomorrow'," he said in his best authoritative voice. I had noticed Adachi liked to sound authoritative, even if he didn't care for the actual rules.

"Buuut... well, I suppose I have a weakness for girls," he sighed. "Alright, how's this for fair? I won't tell him anything he doesn't already know directly. That way neither of us will get into trouble, right?"

"Thank you, Adachi-san," I said with a polite, short little bow. A bit of water drizzled from my collar. He waved it off.

"Hey, none of that, people might get the wrong idea. We'll just say you owe me one and call it even."

He returned to his coffee after a chuckle, but didn't get to take a sip before a familiar buzz distracted him. He pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Dojima-san? Ah, sorry, I'll be right there soon as I ca- what was that about Azumi-chan?" he said, just barely stifling a chuckle. "No worries, she's with me, Dojima-san. We met for breakfast," he said casually. Adachi was a pretty bad actor, I was starting to notice.

"A report? Nah, she couldn't be involved. I've been keeping an eye on Azumi since she woke up, you're just being paranoid again," he said, not even trying to stop his impish grin. "Look, why don't you grab a cup of coffee? I'll go check out the report-"

he paused, listening to instructions coming over the other side, and stifled a sigh this time. "Aye aye sir, right on it Dojima-san," he said with considerably less enthusiasm, putting the phone away. "Probably a prank call," he said in response to my inquiring look. "Dojima-san's all worried about a report he got a few minutes ago about some teenage girl killing two people on a TV antenna. In this weather? What a joke," he said shaking his head. "What kind of kid would be out and around in the middle of the rain, even if they were a killer?"

Adachi's pattern of thought was hard to follow.

"When I was a kid, you stayed inside and studied if the weather was bad," he said, tapping his fingers on the table. "And you got punished if you didn't, so you had to be really good at sneaking around. I got caught my fair share of times."

I stared at him.

"I really doubt you're our killer, Azumi," he said with a slight chuckle. "So I won't question why you're up in the rain so early. All kids have their secrets, right? Don't worry too much- Just be a bit more careful, right? It's not safe for a girl your age to wander around alone in the dark. I'm sure you have plenty of boyfriends to protect you by now!"

Tohru Adachi was a strange person, too. Yet at the same time, he was probably the only one I could really count on at the police station. It wasn't dissimilar to Yosuke- I didn't know what the precise mechanisms behind it was, but there was an element of trust I felt obliged to give. I nodded again, and though I still didn't have a clue what was running through his head, I felt a faint bond form between us.

_**The Tower **_

_** The Sixteenth Arcana**_

_** Disaster, Reformation, Revelation**_

_** The toil of those who worked to surpass god is repaid in the scattering of the languages, and the burning of the land- but from the ashes of the fallen sprouts new growth.**_

_** May this connection allow you to surpass the changing paradigm. **_

_** It shall help illuminate the answer you seek.**_

* * *

**.**

**4/14**

** Inaba Local Precinct**

**.**

* * *

"They're... not dead?" Chie Satonaka said wide-eyed, but calmer than before. Dojima noted she had finally stopped clenching her fists.

"No, they aren't. Hanamura had a cracked rib, but besides that they were relatively unharmed," he said patiently. Dojima didn't normally do interrogations, but apparently this murder was a big enough deal his name had been put forth as head investigator- so of course, when possibly related information came up, it was duty to make sure everything checked out.

Dojima could understand that. What he couldn't understand is why everyone thought this was going to be a serial murder case.

"Would you mind telling me why you assumed it was a murder to begin with?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. General paranoia struck quick in Inaba's fog, especially with the media blitz focusing on the celebrity attack; he had no idea how they were going to spin _this_.

"Well, they were strung up on that antenna, so I just thought... I mean, that doesn't normally happen, you know? Especially in the rain," she muttered, crossing her arms.

What were Hanamura and Konishi doing up on that roof anyway? Konishi wasn't in a condition to answer and Hanamura reportedly just dodged the question whenever it came up. Both of them needed immediate hospitalization, but it'd be a definite stretch to call this a murder.

What was up with the high elevations in this town? An amnesiac, a corpse, and two injured kids. There had to be a connection somehow, but it gave him a headache just thinking about it.

"And what with that strange program on TV last night..." Satonaka muttered, glancing off at the broken monitor in the corner of the room. Dojima raised an eyebrow.

"Strange program?"

"Oh, it's nothing really, just a stupid rumor," she said, shrugging her shoulders. When Dojima's gaze didn't let up, she chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, you know... on rainy nights, the TV shows some weird stuff at midnight. It's just... last night, I think it was Yosuke-kun and... Konishi-san on the program, and it was kinda creepy so I just..."

"There was a television program that depicted both victims before the crime?" Dojima said with a raised eyebrow. That sounded fantastically stupid, but then again, the entire situation was weird.

"Kind of?" Satonaka said, squirming in her seat. "It's... well, I only found out about it a few weeks ago, but it works, mostly. Last night it was weirdly clear, though," she said thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I think that girl was on the channel then too. It just didn't focus...err, it's called the Midnight Channel, by the way. But, it's real alright, even though it sounds kinda..."

The Midnight channel, eh?

"Tell me what you know about it."

* * *

.

.

.

**Shadow Log**

**SHADOW SAKI (I) - VILE GUARDIAN OF THE PURE REALM**

_**The Hermit**_

_Nullifies:_ Light

_Resists:_ Physical, Fire, Ice, Electricity, Wind

_Weakness:_ Darkness

A faceless kami wearing the mask of a fox. Though it can leave its shrine, it is loathe to do so. It embodies the fake personality Saki dons in order to interact with the people around her, and protects her from the harshness of the outer world. However, as she considers it a false part of her personality, it can never be properly integrated as a persona so long as Saki continues to deny her negative motivations in associating with others.

It hates hypocrites. Because of this, and because it was partially formed due to his influence, it nurses a grudge against Yosuke Hanamura, and will pursue him (and only him) outside of its normal boundaries. A shadow hating anyone aside from its owner is a rare trait, and may indicate a particularly willful specimen.

It has nine tails carved into faces that are the source of its power, representing Saki's multiple false selves amalgamated into one. It is immensely powerful within its own domain, capable of commanding all of the elements and resisting most forms of damage in return.

However, it carries a dire Achilles heel, which Izanami was able to exploit in order to easily banish it.

Though this Shadow was killed, it was never accepted by Saki, and thus it later incarnated into a new form.

**.**

**SHADOW SAKI (II) - THE FOG'S UNCEASING HUNTRESS**

_**The Empress**_

A mysterious Shadow of which little is known.

It is the second incarnation of Saki's shadow, and has changed Arcana in the process. Though it retains the shape of a fox, it is no longer tied to the shrine. It is likely to have a completely new set of parameters compared to its earlier shape.

As Saki was removed from the TV world before it was engaged in combat, the ultimate fate of this shadow is unknown.


	8. 4-14 - General Hospital

**4/14**

**Inaba Local Precinct **

**.**

* * *

Yukiko Amagi was not having a good day.

In fact, she hadn't been having good days -or nights- for a while now. Since her mother's collapse, it'd been a ceaseless parade of complications that made her want to tear her hair out, or at the very least be significantly less than hospitable to a number of their more recent guests as of late. Frankly, it wouldn't have been quite as bad if she had some sort of outlet for her frustration- but, as the representative of her mother's inn, she did have to keep to a certain standard of decorum.

And now, even school wasn't a safe haven anymore. As if that 'interview' last night hadn't been enough, she'd caught sight of a few reporters trying to ambush students along her normal path to school in the morning. It infuriated her enough to scream, but she'd just channeled that into aggressively hinting to Chie they should switch up their normal path to school today.

That turned out to be a mistake.

She could still picture Hanamura-san and that girl's deathly pallor when she closed her eyes. It took her a moment to recognize the former, and she somehow felt even worse about that.

Unlike her friend, Yukiko tried not to jump to conclusions often- or, rather, she just wasn't very good at jumping to conclusions. She couldn't help but think over things at least once again after hearing them, which often made her feel like she was lagging behind everyone else. Usually, this wasn't a problem- but now, that hesitation left a bitter taste in her mouth

"If I'd been faster, I could have stopped her," she muttered under her breath. The receptionist glanced at her, but Yukiko tried not to seem like she noticed. Maybe it was just wallowing in self pity, but she needed a moment to compose herself after failing to do anything except dial a number when something serious actually came up. Something she could have maybe helped in, for once.

"Morning, Azumi-chan," the secretary said as someone pushed open the front door. Yukiko didn't pay any mind as a girl of about her age, drenched in rain, shuffled by her.

Wait.

"You!" she yelled, standing up. "You're the culprit!"

The girl sneezed, then fixed her glasses. She was taller -about her height, in fact- but had an almost dishevelled appearance, coming in from the rain. Aside from her pale hair, nothing would have stood out normally- but Yukiko was good with details, and had good eyes even in the rain and mist of that morning. She'd been left behind while Chie sprung into action- the least she could have done was remember who committed the crime.

The same height, boring clothes, the strangely fashionable glasses that didn't quite match the rest of her- the girl she identified clearly didn't seem perturbed at all at the accusation, but did turn towards Yukiko with a blank expression, watching her with pale blue eyes bare of any judgement. For a moment, Yukiko doubted her memory and flushed in embarrassment- someone actually guilty wouldn't be that blasé, would they?

But no, that hair color was the smoking gun. Even if wet, it was hardly likely there were two teenage girls with grey hair in Inaba, was it?

"You're the one who dragged them to the roof, aren't you?" she snapped, reasserting herself and trying to ignore the incredulous looks from everyone else in the precinct lobby. She knew nobody had died- or at least, that's what it sounded like from what she'd overheard from the medics- but she still couldn't let her get away scot free again, could she?

"...No. I've been accompanied by Detective Adachi-san for the past few hours, and under police supervision prior to that. I'm afraid you're mistaken," the culprit said in a quiet near-monotone, before touching her glasses rims.

"No you weren't," Yukiko said, surprising herself a little with how resolute she sounded. "Your left leg- you soaked it when Chie confronted you, didn't you?"

Trying to back up her accusation was difficult, but she remembered the entire altercation clearly; she'd been terrified for Chie's sake, after all. Maybe that's what gave her the strength to actually speak up about it.

She took a step forward, and the girl didn't even react.

"If you didn't commit the crime, then why are you at the police station?" she demanded. Everyone other than the two girls seemed to have been caught off guard, and struggled to insert themselves into the conversation.

"Azumi-chan? She just about lives here at this point," the secretary said with a bit of humor. "Settle down, girl. You're from the Amagi Inn, right? Didn't know you guys could be so forceful."

"Yes... well..." Yukiko said, tripping over her own words. "It's just... she was definitely there. I remember it clearly."

"Memories aren't terribly reliable," the bespectacled girl said with a shrug. "It's probably best not to rely on them alone. Do you have proof?"

"...Proof?" she repeated slowly. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The other girl nodded, though without much interest. "Evidence that would indicate I happen to be the individual involved in the specific criminal activity you are accusing me of. Your testimony isn't effective, given I have an alibi."

Proof? But that wasn't possible. They'd seen her for less than a minute, in the middle of the rain, and they weren't even able to touch the bodies at the time. How could someone leave any physical evidence for them to find? Yukiko _knew _she remembered the incident. Why couldn't she think of something that would prove their murderer was standing right in front of them?!

"Noticing my leg was a fine deduction. That would have worked if we had more than your word proving it happened," she said, looking briefly down at the soaked sock she was wearing. "As one drenching their sock is a pretty common occurrence in the rain. The logical basis was solid, however."

Yukiko froze up, trying to think of something else to validate her claim, but the other girl seemed to have had enough of it. When no response came, she motioned to move past.

"Wait!" Yukiko demand, "Chie! Chie saw you too, she'll agree with me!"

She paused briefly, glancing backward at her. "Corroborating your testimony would be a start. Two memories are more reliable than one."

That was right- once Chie came out of questioning, the all she needed to do was-

"Ha, Specs-chan, it's not nice to lead people on like that," came a male voice from the front door. He was a younger detective, but familiar; Yukiko had seen him around on occasion while running errands for the Inn. What was the name again?

He grinned at her and flashed his badge. "Detective Adachi, at your service ma'am. You're Amagi-san's daughter, right? I understand things have been tough since Mayumi Yamano was staying at your inn during the murder, but Azumi-chan couldn't have been behind the incident earlier. She's been with me the entire time."

Yukiko flinched.

"I apologize for not being willing to debate this further, but I'm tired. I don't suppose my room is open right now, Adachi?" the girl said, notably lacking any sort of honorific. Yukiko was barely able to speak- was this girl really in so close with the police? Could a killer really have those sorts of connections?

She was certain of what she saw. Their patronizing eyes, looking at her like she was being tiresome- they were distressingly familiar. She felt bile grow in her throat when she realized how much she was standing out. Being obtrusive -embarrassing them. And herself, for daring to have spoken up.

"...Chie! Please, just wait for Chie to come out, she'll agree with me, I'm certain!" she said, clenching a hand into a fist.

"Amagi-san, we know you're under a lot of stress at the moment, and-"

"I'm not stressed!" she snapped, before realizing she just yelled at a police officer. Adachi was taken aback- as was the secretary. The girl with glasses didn't show any particular response.

"Wow. I guess some of the rumors were true," the secretary muttered idly, looking away. Yukiko felt her heart sink and burn at the same time. Rumors? More of them? That's what put her mother into the hospital.

Calm. She needed to calm down. It was hard, but if she could just get a grip on herself, maybe she could just sit down and try again when she had some eviden-

At that moment, Chie and a scruffy-looking older detective passed through the corridor.

"Chie!" Yukiko yelled, running up to her friend. She had her usual green sweater on and seemed to have calmed down- that was good, maybe it meant she'd finally remembered something. She was so happy at the timing that she might cry- she could always count on Chie to bail her out whenever she was in trouble. "That girl, Chie! She's the culprit, right? We saw her right on the rooftop!" she demanded, gesturing fiercely at the blankfaced girl.

"Ah, Yukiko?" Chie said, sounding tired. She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. "What are you...?" she asked, shaking her head and glancing at Azumi. She paused and pursed her lips.

"Hey, yeah. She could be the one, maybe..." Chie said after a short pause. Yukiko blanched.

"...Maybe?"

"Well... it was dark, and raining. I was kind of keyed up at the time, so I didn't take a very good look at them... sorry," Chie said sourly, briefly glancing up at the detective next to her apology. The older man shrugged his shoulders.

"...Well, we couldn't really expect much else under the circumstances. You did well, miss Satonaka. You should probably take the rest of the day off school to avoid the media and get some rest;" he said, nodding. "Now, what's this about Azumi?"

Yukiko felt her mouth go dry.

"Uh, yeah... hey, Yukiko, what's going on? Did something else happen?" Chie asked, looking baffled. "Why do you think it's that girl over there again?"

Yukiko saw it. She knew. She wasn't wrong, she couldn't-

"Adachi, wasn't Azumi with you this morning?" the older cop asked, sounding irritated. "Why's she drenched anyway? Didn't you bring an umbrella?"

Those reporters, demanding that she tell them the true story- that she had to be lying, covering up for someone. She knew what she saw, it wasn't a lie, it was the truth-

"Sorry Dojima-san, we left before it started pouring. Bad luck, eh? Haha, I think Amagi-chan here is just a little overworked at the moment, maybe we should leave her questioning for another-"

"I'm not lying! I know what I saw! I...I..." Yukiko yelled, feeling her face going red- and then, without waiting for a response, she bolted to the door and escaped into the rain.

* * *

**.**

**4/14**

**Inaba General Hospital**

**.**

* * *

There was a minor uproar in the precinct when Yukiko Amagi fled, but it settled down fast enough. Adachi was sent to retrieve her- with the girl's friend in hot pursui- but Dojima didn't seem too worried. Apparently, stress had broken down any number of grown men in the past; usually, you just needed a few days to yourself to recuperate, and it probably wouldn't be any different in this case.

Since there wasn't anyone else to interrogate until Yukiko was retrieved, I was free to take a nap in 'my' room. Dojima apologized again for having me essentially living in the precinct, and promised we'd be returning to his house later today, as I was scheduled to start school tomorrow.

Surprisingly, I didn't sleep very well. I felt incredibly fatigued after the events in the TV world and substantially more comfortable after I stripped from my drenched outerwear, but somehow I still wasn't able to get myself to rest for any length of time. Too many things whirring in my head, perhaps, too many unformed ideas and half-thoughts and things left undone to let me merely fall asleep.

I managed to sleep off what I could, and woke up to a fresh pair of clothes donated by some officer or another. These ones were a little small on me, in comparison, but it worked- a black long-sleeved shirt and a skirt not dissimilar to the Yasugami High uniform.

Before he left, I spoke with Adachi again to get details on the situation I was apparently now uninvolved with. A pair of students, taking the long way to school, had noticed a pair of prone bodies on a suburban rooftop and reported it to the police- and there was a figure who fled from the scene, a female probably of around highschool age. Yukiko had already given her testimony of course, but without official documentation and her having spontaneously run off, it didn't seem that scrutiny on my recent actions would fall any time soon. That was fortunate for my own sake, though it did lead me to wonder in what other ways the police' investigations might have been compromised.

Details aside from that were murky, and Dojima wasn't convinced this was directly connected to the murder case just yet. As the victims were left alive, it had more in common with my situation than with Mayumi Yamano's murder. An interesting pattern of thought; could my missing memories be the fault of that fog-filled world? It was impossible to tell without further investigation- into both Yamano's murder, and into that surreal counterpart Inaba.

Yosuke, apparently, was conscious again, complete with memory loss- though I was skeptical when I heard it seemed to cover just the period of his disappearance, or rather, his adventure within the television. Adachi suggested I see him at the hospital and gave me directions and bus fare to do exactly that, laughing it off the entire time. Adachi seemed to think a lot of things I did were hilarious for some reason or another. It felt vaguely patronizing.

That said, taking the bus was more complicated than I thought- the number of different lines which passed by was truly baffling, especially for such a small town as this- but I managed to succeeded eventually, and before visiting hours were over at that. Coming in later was almost fortunate given Yosuke's family had been visiting until just then.

How curious it must be to have people willing to rush to your side on such short notice.

The walk through the hospital was an interesting experience, the clinical nature of the halls belying the suck and injured contained within. It felt like a space heavy with emotion and regrets, and I found myself hurrying towards Yosuke's room so as to not disturb any wandering ghosts in the halls. I wouldn't be able to check in on Saki- Adachi had told me as much, said that she was still under strict observation by the police. Unlike Yosuke, Saki's injuries appeared to be of somewhat greater severity. Regrettable- if we'd been faster, maybe, or if I had the power to resist that second manifestation she'd triggered, I wondered if she hadn't ended up in such a state- but then again, fretting over possibilities was pointless.

When I arrived at the number I'd been told, I at first didn't notice him- he was laying down with a sheet over his face as if to hide from the outside world, only the bright tuft of hair poking from the sheet giving him away. He didn't look like he was sleeping, but I noticed a headphone-shaped indent under the sheets that probably explained the lack of motion.

I needed him responsive, so I alerted him to my presence by shaking him by the shoulder lightly. He groaned and sat up, only to curl away from me- though the headphones fell away.

"Ugh, what now? I told you, I just want to sleep," he groaned into his pillow, not even looking at me.

"I wanted to speak with you for a moment, Yosuke."

"...Hunh? Wait, are you..." he muttered before finally lifting his head and looking at me with weary eyes. "Azumi... chan?" said, almost frowning.

I nodded. The silence seemed to require a bigger response, so I spoke again after a short hesitation.

"You look well for how injured you seemed earlier," I noted.

Yosuke just stared at me for a few seconds, then slowly nodded. "Right. I was beaten up pretty badly, wasn't I..." he trailed off. "That just seems so... unreal," he shook his head. "Even the broken rib didn't stick; apparently, it was only fractured or something. But... I was pretty messed up in there, wasn't I? So why am I fine now?"

"Neither of us understand the functions of that world. A positive aberration in your physical condition seems to be a good thing from where I stand," I noted. That said, his body failing to retain most injuries from the TV world seemed like it could be a piece to the puzzle, somehow. I clearly remembered how he'd looked before we escaped the shadow-filled Junes, and there was little chance his chest injury was merely a fracture; somehow, the strange rules of that world beyond the television fit into the puzzle. I was obliged to look into it further.

"...Right. Hey, Azumi, don't take this the wrong way, but..." he said, catching himself. "That all... happened, right? I didn't just imagine it?"

"Do you suspect it didn't?" I asked.

he closed his eyes again, briefly- and when they opened again, they seemed a lot clearer, if not any brighter. "When I woke up the first time, I... I tried to touch the TV," he shook his head. "Dumb, right? I don't have any special powers, but... still, for a second, I thought maybe it was all a hallucination."

He paused. "But then I remembered Saki-sempai still won't wake up, and... if I forget that other world, Azumi, I don't know what did that to her. It doesn't make any sense, but a stupid explanation's better than nothing... especially if I lived it somehow. Augh, this is making my head hurt."

He flopped back onto his pillow. "Again."

"I see. So your line of logic goes as follows- the events in the other world don't match up with the observed laws of your world as you know them. Therefore, without repeatable evidence of its existence, you are forced to conclude it was merely a delusion. The corroboration of my testimony doesn't sway you, correct?"

"Do you mean I think you're lying?" he said, without moving from his position. "Not... really, no. It's just... hard to wrap your head around something like that. Especially when you didn't have anything to do with it personally. Not really, anyway."

"Very well. Perhaps this evidence will suffice," I said, deliberately walking to the tiny CRT screen on the stand opposite his bed.

"Evidence? What do you-" he asked, opening his eyes and sitting up in time to see me, elbow-deep inside the television screen. For a moment, he just stared a little, mouth hanging loose.

My hand was starting to tingle and I felt the pressure of the world to draw me in once more, so I retrieved my hand. "I trust that should suffice as proof to your memory's sincerity."

"I... didn't actually think it would..." he said, shaking his head. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. You're the hero here, right?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're the one with the magical superpower. I was just... entirely useless," he muttered, staring at the ceiling. "That monster was hunting me. I wonder... would it have hurt Saki-sempai if it managed to kill me?"

"I can't imagine why it wouldn't," I said, mildly confused. Was there even a purpose to this line of questioning?

Yosuke shook his head.

"I'm just thinking out loud I suppose. Thanks for coming to see me, Azumi," he said, glancing from the corner of his eye. "I'm fine though, so you can go home. No need to waste your time with a loser like me, right?"

For some reason, I wasn't very happy with that.

"That was meant in jest, correct?" I said after a moment. Yosuke just looked over at me blankly.

"Err, yeah. I do that now and then... seriously Azumi, you're a pretty weird girl," he muttered, shaking his head a little. "But I suppose we all have our faults."

He paused for a second.

"Hey... have you visited Saki-sempai?"

"Not yet. Was there something you wanted to know about her condition?" I asked.

"Is she... sleeping well?"

I looked at him.

"I don't know."

He didn't seem happy at that. At the same time, it was difficult to discern his actual emotions. For a long time, he was just quiet, and it was difficult to tell if he actually wanted me to talk or not; as much as he tried to stay his normal jovial self, I couldn't help but think this strangely contemplative state he was in was herald to something more intrinsically wrong with him than he was willing to admit.

At the same time, of course, I had no idea how I could possibly affect that. Yosuke's mind was his own business- I had no ability, or right, even, to meddle with that. My mind was filled with truisms like that, small couplings of information based on the human nature, and I trusted that. Human beings were fundamentally alone, forced to live behind masks that guarded their precious inner identities- drawing them out from behind those masks would cause only pain and suffering.

So I kept silent.

"...Azumi-chan. Do you think there's a reason this happened to us?"

Yosuke stared at the ceiling, still bundled in paper-thin white bedsheets he'd been given. I was almost surprised he spoke at all, given how dead mentioning Saki had made the conversation. While I could tell that Yosuke valued the girl beyond what might be normal for a regular friend, I still wasn't sure precisely why he seemed to blame himself for her injury- if anyone was at fault, it was the one who had power to affect the situation.

And of course, if what happened to her could really be called an 'injury'. Saki Konishi was definitely comatose, but her brainwave activity was more than normal- active, even. While the body ignored the outside world, it appeared the inner Saki still existed, in some shape or form. At the moment, she might have been sleeping, if not for the fact nobody yet was able to wake her up.

I chose not to mention this to Yosuke Hanamura. My motives weren't entirely clear even to myself at the time.

"By that, are you referring to-"

"-We're both outsiders, right?" he said abruptly. "You're not from around here, right? Well, neither am I, really. Sempai always said... I didn't really fit in around here," he said, slowly frowning. "So I thought, you know, maybe there was a reason for it. Nobody was killed here before I came, right?"

Or before I appeared on a television antenna myself. Yosuke couldn't have known about me; it was impossible. Logically, he was wouldn't have had any way to ask after he woke up in the hospital bed, not without sounding suspicious- to him, I was just an ordinary student who happened to get caught up in a strange situation. As such, I was puzzled why he'd label me as such- did I really stick out that much?

"...How did Saki and I get into that world?" he wondered aloud. "You came to save us. So maybe we had a reason, too. That world... it has to have a purpose, right?"

I didn't know anything about purpose. I stayed silent, then wondered if I should've said something.

Yosuke chuckled, but there wasn't any humor in it. "You know, forget it. It's nothing. It's probably better if I forget about everything that happened there, anyway..." he muttered, turning on his side. I didn't think he even realized I was still in the room, so I got up to leave.

When my hand touched the door, I heard the crinkling of his bed again, and glanced back briefly to find him staring at me with an odd expression on his face.

"Hey, Azumi-chan," he said in an oddly grave tone, before finally cracking a real smile. "You know, I think you looked cuter without the glasses, hehe. Ah..." he sighed and stretched a little to the side. His back cracked, almost painfully, and he winced a little.

"Yosuke. Are you sure you've fully healed?"

"You worried about me?" he said with a hint of a smirk, then brushed it off. "No worries. I'll be back to school soon. You're attending Yasogami, right? I'll show you around when I get back, alright?"

"That would be... nice," I said, considering it for a moment.

"It's a date, then," he said with a hint of a laugh, "After all, us outsiders have to stay together, right?"

_**The Magician**_

_**The First Arcana**_

_**Power, Action, Effort**_

_**Knowledge becomes master and slave to civilization,**_

_**And the world opens up to man- regardless of whether they may meet the challenge.**_

_**May this connection allow you to find the strength you need.**_

_**It shall help illuminate the answer you seek.**_

* * *

_**.**  
_

**4/14**_  
_

**Inaba General Hospital**

_**.**_

* * *

The walls of the hospital's corridors seemed blindingly white.

He'd been dawdling outside the door for a while now, since before that girl came to visit the boy and long after she'd left. There was a half-dried bouquet of flowers clutched in his hand- he'd meant to leave it with the other victim, but something stopped him from getting any closer to the catatonic girl.

Was it because he'd nearly murdered her, perhaps?

"I... what did I do?" he whispered to himself, supporting himself against the wall. He had to go in. To apologize. To explain. Why he did what he did- he needed to take credit for his actions, and pay the proper price for his crimes.

"There was no justice in this."

Crimes.

He was a criminal.

He tried to resist a whimper, but outside Yosuke Hanamura's hospital room, Taro Namatame broke down into tears.

"I'm just a worthless criminal."

* * *

**.**

**4/15**

**Inaba**

**.**

* * *

Amidst the rain and sleet, a television somewhere clicked on.

And curious eyes, eager to know more, spied the shadow of a young girl that was lost in the static.


End file.
